A Juneau, Alaska, man with a long history of wildlife violations has been convicted on eight charges of commercial fishing fraud.
According to the Juneau Independent, Michael Patrick Duby’s record of hunting and fishing violations dates back to 2002, when he was convicted of illegally hunting birds in the U.S. state of Washington. In 2010, he was the subject of a two-year investigation by the Fish and Wildlife Service, which led to a 2012 double conviction, with Duby found guilty in federal court for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and in Alaska state court for six misdemeanor violations of wildlife regulations.
During this period, Duby worked as a fishing and hunting charter guide in Juneau. His violations included illegally baiting black bears on his property, falsifying hunting liscenses, and taking more than his allowable catch of halibut. Members of his family were sometimes implicated in the violations, too, with his brother Jason Duby pleading guilty to bear baiting in 2012.
Michael faced a USD 2,500 (EUR 2,156) fine, 250 hours of community service, and a five-year ban on his hunting and fishing rights for the 2012 federal crimes; for the state crimes, he was charged with nine months in prison and a more than USD 40,000 (EUR 34,488) fine. Those penalties were, KTOO reported at the time, some of the harshest imposed for hunting and fishing violations in the state’s history.
Alaska State Special Prosecutor Andrew Petereson said then that Duby was “somebody who is just unable to stop violating fish and game crimes.”
The recent 12 January 2026 conviction in Juneau stems from Duby’s work with his commercial fishing business in 2019 and 2020, in which he violated fishing regulations, sold fish illegally, produced fraudulent reports of his catches, and, without holding a permit, sold clams that were never tested for life-threatening toxins. The illegal clam sales resulted in a charge of reckless endangerment.
In an interview with the Juneau Independent’s Natalie Buttner, which occurred during jury deliberations, Duby said he believed that the suspension of his hunting and fishing rights did not apply to his commercial fishing business.
“I studied the commercial fishing regulations extensively, for, I don't know, five or six years before I could do it, and I felt that this was a means where I could easily follow these rules,” Duby said. “It’s very complicated, but this is very doable, and I felt that [as] long as I'd be very careful, I wouldn't get myself into this situation again. Obviously, that didn't happen.”
The investigation into the 2019 and 2020 crimes included Duby’s wife Esther, who serves as a state fish and games operations manager. Though she was indicted on three counts related to illegally selling fish and clams, she was acquitted of all charges.
Duby ultimately represented himself in the trial after excusing three different lawyers.
