Fishermen from Canada face criminal charges after they were found illegally fishing in U.S. waters and in possession of 260 Dungeness crabs.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police announced Monday that officers on night patrol near the U.S.-Canada border observed a vessel with crab pots on its deck operating without navigational lights.
The unnamed fishermen claimed their boat wouldn’t start and that a southerly drift carried them into U.S. waters. But the drift was northerly during the vessel inspection.
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The crabs, 40 of them undersized, were seized as evidence.
The WDFW Police, which did not mention the day of the bust, stated in a news release:
“The suspects must have forgotten that they told officers that their engine was broken because they sped back to Canada as soon as the vessels parted ways. Multiple criminal charges will be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office.”