Senator's aide faces Prison on fish violation

[Blue_In_AK]

Source: Anchorage Daily News

A former fisheries aide to U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has admitted to breaking commercial fishing laws in a federal plea agreement and has resigned from his job. He faces 10 months in prison if a judge agrees to the deal.

Murkowski on Sunday accepted the resignation of Arne Fuglvog, a day before the misdemeanor count for falsifying fishing records was made public. Fuglvog's plea deal includes $150,000 in fines and a public admission of guilt.

<snip>

According to the plea agreement, Fuglvog falsified records of his commercial catches several times between 2001 and 2006 while operating a boat called the Kamilar. He would fish in one area and report that he'd caught the fish somewhere else, the court document says.

In 2005, Fuglvog's permit allowed him to catch about 30,000 pounds of sablefish -- also known as black cod -- in the western Yakutat area. But Fuglvog instead hauled in roughly 63,000 pounds of the deep-sea fish and attributed more than 30,000 pounds to a catch in the Central Gulf area, according to the court document.

The excess fish were valued at about $100,000, the document says.

<snip>




Read more: http://www.adn.com/2011/08/02/1997305/murkowski-aide-quits-after-admitting.html

[UrbScotty]

1. Given Republicans' commitment to personal responsibility, this comes as a surprise!

:sarcasm:

[Blue_In_AK]

2. Indeed.

Word around here is that everyone knew Mr. however-you-pronounce-his-name has been lying like this about his over-fishing and ill-gotten gains for years, and Lisa definitely knew about it. I guess that's why she's playing so coy with "what did she know and when did she know it."

Here's a bit more interesting information from the Alaska Dispatch: http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/former-us-sen-lisa-murkowski-aide-headed-prison

He has years of experience advising and serving on the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council.

In 2009, he was an apparent finalist for the top spot at the National Marine Fisheries Service, according to the Alaska Journal of Commerce. The United Fisherman of Alaska endorsed Fuglvog for the spot and sent letters on his behalf during the candidate search. Fuglvog didn’t get the job.

:rofl: "Fisheries Management Council"?? Guess he managed all those illegal fish right into his boat.

[BiggJawn]

3. YoooooooBetcha! n/t

[MilesColtrane]

4. Sorry, but when I see the phrase "fish violation"...

I can't help but think of this guy.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. Follow-up on this story.

http://www.adn.com/2011/08/03/1999545/senator-quiet-on-aides-fishing.html

<snip>

Shannyn Moore, an Anchorage talk show host and political activist, said Wednesday that people who had been crew on Fuglvog's fishing vessel contacted her around December 2008.

Moore said the people, who she declined to name, told her they had already been called in to testify as part of an investigation of Fuglvog. They were upset to see Fuglvog was under consideration to head the fisheries service, Moore said.

Moore said she was given a copy of a partial "fish log book" detailing Fuglvog's actual catches, as opposed to what he reported catching. She said she contacted the office of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, because Frank was supporting the other finalist to lead the national fisheries service. Frank's pick didn't get the job either.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2011/08/03/1999545/senator-quiet-on-aides-fishing.html#ixzz1U30rjZ3q



Lisa Murkowski is still dodging questions about what did she know and when did she know it. Amazing that she was recommending this thief to be head of the national fisheries service. This looks bad for her, especially if she knew of this investigation at the time of her recommendation.

[Blue_In_AK]

6. Why Fuglvog matters to America.

From The Alaska Dispatch: http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/why-fuglvog-matters-america

Many in Alaska would like to believe the outlaw Arne Fuglvog -- an aide to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, this week exposed as a fish pirate -- is an aberration. Since statehood in 1959, residents have prided themselves on the management of complex, mixed-stock Alaska fisheries. A large part of the drive for statehood, in fact, hinged on the myth that incompetent federal biologists and fish traps owned by wealthy and powerful Seattle interests had devastated the fisheries of the Alaska Territory.

<snip>

The real intent was to make commercial fishermen a class of professionals interested in the long-term health of the resources supporting them. Limited entry was widely praised, a shining path, as Alaska salmon harvests climbed from about 25 million fish per year when it was enacted in 1975 to more than 200 million fish per year two decades later. Climate changes that helped boost salmon numbers were largely ignored. Overlooked, too, were the management efforts of Alaska Department and Fish and Game biologists, who'd sometimes had their lives threatened by fishermen told they couldn't fish because runs needed to be protected.

<snip>

A few hundred boats now fan out across a vast ocean during a fishing season that runs from March 12 to Nov. 18. The boats can be difficult to find, let alone police. Processors keep track of how many fish are landed, but the fishermen are expected to self-report where the fish came from. Fuglvog is reputed to have lied about where his catches came from for five years. The so-called derby fisheries of old -- which lasted for only days before quotas of halibut and sablefish were reached -- might have been more dangerous for the fishermen involved, but they were a lot easier for fisheries managers to police.

All of which leaves a hard-to-ignore question tagging along behind the outlaw Arne Fuglvog. If a smart and talented commercial fishermen who can see the wisdom of maintaining strong fisheries far into the future can't find it within himself to play by the new rules, who can count on the fisherman who largely only cares about making more money today?