It might have seemed as though things couldn’t get worse for a man who was cited by different officers for catching salmon in different closed areas on the same day recently.
But as announced Friday by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police, after receiving his second citation the man wrecked his automobile on a nearby highway.
“After such a bad-luck day, the subject may reconsider poaching in Pierce and Mason County streams,” the WDFWP stated in a news release.
The man was one of three anglers “blatantly violating” regulations by fishing in a closed Minter Creek hatchery zone established to protect vulnerable salmon as they migrate toward spawning grounds and through narrow hatchery intake areas.
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The man tried to flee but was caught by “Officer Summit” and cited along with the other individuals. Nine salmon were seized as evidence.
When Officer Summit submitted his report later that morning he discovered that the man had been cited for a similar violation near Hoodsport about 90 minutes after receiving his first citation.
Officer Jewitt, who issued the second citation, noticed that the man had marked his salmon catch record card with fish he caught from Minter Creek. These cards must be filled out by anglers to help biologists monitor fish populations.
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According to the WDFWP, the man told Officer Jewitt that he had given those salmon away when, in fact, they had been seized by Officer Summit because they were caught illegally in a closed area.
The WDFWP stated: “After being contacted and cited by two fish and wildlife officers on two different closed waterbodies, the individual wrecked his vehicle on Hwy 101 near Potlatch.”
The agency did not mention whether the man had been injured in the crash.
–Image courtesy of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police