Daniel Allen, a resident of Brookport, Illinois, U.S.A., was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison plus a USD 10,000 (EUR 9,250) fine for illegally catching sturgeon and selling caviar.
Allen admitted that between November 2018 and April 2019, he illegally caught shovelnose sturgeon along the border of the U.S. states of Kentucky and Illinois and sold the fish roe to a caviar distributor in Tennessee, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky.
Allen caught sturgeon near the Smithland Lock and Dam in an area closed to commercial fishing, fished out of season, and used illegally sized mesh nets along the Ohio River, according to the U.S. Attorney.
Allen violated the Lacey Act, which makes it unlawful for any person to transport and sell fish that were taken in violation of any law or regulation of any state, according to the U.S. Attorney statement. Kentucky and Illinois both regulate fishing for sturgeon and its eggs, which are marketed as caviar.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigated the case with the assistance of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Photo courtesy of Kenneth Keifer/Shutterstock
