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Seven Sacramento-area men were arrested Friday for allegedly poaching white sturgeon from the Sacramento River to produce black-market caviar, and for the alleged illegal use of juvenile salmon as bait.
California Department of Fish and Game wardens made the arrests in Sacramento after conducting surveillance on the group for three weeks.
All the sturgeon were allegedly caught in the Sacramento River in Colusa County, and the caviar was produced and sold in the Sacramento area. The suspects were booked into the Colusa County jail.
Fish and Game Lt. Kathy Ponting said evidence suggests the men have been illegally taking sturgeon and producing caviar for years.
"I hate to say it," she said, "but from what we're seeing, unfortunately it's into the hundreds (of sturgeon) and lots of oversize, big egg-bearing females, which is the most disturbing thing to us."
The suspects are Sergey Sokalskiy, 38, of Citrus Heights; Andrey Bukaty, 26, of Sacramento; Petr Ivanovich Kolosov, 33, of Rancho Cordova; Yevgeniy Leontyuk, 18, of Rancho Cordova; Alexandr Paripa, 22, of Sacramento; and Serhiy V. Omelchuck, 32, of Sacramento.
Ivan Banatskyi, 28, of Citrus Heights is suspected of being the primary caviar processor, Ponting said.
Dubbed "Operation Colusa Clan," the investigation is the department's eighth major sturgeon poaching bust since 2003. As large as these cases are, Ponting said, they represent the tip of the iceberg for the wildlife poaching problem in California.
In the latest case, Ponting said the suspects allegedly sold pint-size jars of caviar to individual buyers for $150 each. Wardens confiscated processed caviar and processing equipment, caviar meat, three vehicles and two boats.
The suspects could each face fines of $5,000 to $10,000 and a year in jail under a 2007 law that targets sturgeon poaching.
White sturgeon can reach more than 10 feet long and 500 pounds and are native to the Sacramento River. But their numbers have been declining sharply along with those of their relative, the green sturgeon, listed as a federally threatened species.
The fall-run chinook salmon population is also declining sharply, forcing regulators this week to ban commercial fishing and nearly all recreational fishing for salmon for a second year in a row.
Yet wardens have noticed more sturgeon poachers use juvenile salmon as bait and start each sturgeon fishing trip by catching as many juvenile salmon as possible.
More...
California Department of Fish and Game wardens made the arrests in Sacramento after conducting surveillance on the group for three weeks.
All the sturgeon were allegedly caught in the Sacramento River in Colusa County, and the caviar was produced and sold in the Sacramento area. The suspects were booked into the Colusa County jail.
Fish and Game Lt. Kathy Ponting said evidence suggests the men have been illegally taking sturgeon and producing caviar for years.
"I hate to say it," she said, "but from what we're seeing, unfortunately it's into the hundreds (of sturgeon) and lots of oversize, big egg-bearing females, which is the most disturbing thing to us."
The suspects are Sergey Sokalskiy, 38, of Citrus Heights; Andrey Bukaty, 26, of Sacramento; Petr Ivanovich Kolosov, 33, of Rancho Cordova; Yevgeniy Leontyuk, 18, of Rancho Cordova; Alexandr Paripa, 22, of Sacramento; and Serhiy V. Omelchuck, 32, of Sacramento.
Ivan Banatskyi, 28, of Citrus Heights is suspected of being the primary caviar processor, Ponting said.
Dubbed "Operation Colusa Clan," the investigation is the department's eighth major sturgeon poaching bust since 2003. As large as these cases are, Ponting said, they represent the tip of the iceberg for the wildlife poaching problem in California.
In the latest case, Ponting said the suspects allegedly sold pint-size jars of caviar to individual buyers for $150 each. Wardens confiscated processed caviar and processing equipment, caviar meat, three vehicles and two boats.
The suspects could each face fines of $5,000 to $10,000 and a year in jail under a 2007 law that targets sturgeon poaching.
White sturgeon can reach more than 10 feet long and 500 pounds and are native to the Sacramento River. But their numbers have been declining sharply along with those of their relative, the green sturgeon, listed as a federally threatened species.
The fall-run chinook salmon population is also declining sharply, forcing regulators this week to ban commercial fishing and nearly all recreational fishing for salmon for a second year in a row.
Yet wardens have noticed more sturgeon poachers use juvenile salmon as bait and start each sturgeon fishing trip by catching as many juvenile salmon as possible.
More...
