[h=2]Charges filed for fish poacher[/h]
By
April Feagley
Daily News Staff Writer
Charges were filed Monday against a Centre County man accused of using scuba equipment to poach fish in the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River.
Vitaly Anatoly Maslov, 35, of Bellefonte, has been charged with serious unlawful take, taking or possessing by illegal methods, criminal trespass, all misdemeanors, as well as violation of rules and regulations.
?This will be the first time I?ve utilized the serious unlawful take charges,? said Waterways Conservation Officer Anthony Quarracino of the state Fish and Boat Commission. ?It?s been on the books for five or six years, but it?s not every day you get a case like this where someone does something that is so grossly negligent.?
Serious unlawful take is a charge reserved for someone who takes three or more times the daily limit.
?This is someone who is out there who seeks to do harm to a species,? he said.
Quarracino and Wildlife Conservation Officer Richard Macklem of the state Game Commission discovered Maslov in the act of poaching fish using scuba equipment and a mechanized spear gun at approximately 10:50 p.m. April 3 in the area beneath the spillway of the Raystown Dam while on a routine patrol. This is posted as a restricted access area by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Quarracino had previously encountered Maslov swimming with mask, fins and a snorkel in the same restricted area in April 2016. At that time, Maslov was charged with criminal trespass.
On the night of April 3, the officers observed a white light emanating from the river channel and continued surveillance of the area for approximately one hour and 20 minutes until Maslov surfaced ?in full scuba attire (wetsuit, oxygen tank, regulator, mask, fins and snorkel).
Maslov was found to have illegally taken three large walleye, two of which were females full of eggs, and a 5-pound small mouth bass with the spear gun. Each of the fish had entry wounds in and around the top of their heads from the mechanically propelled spear.
The four fish and the dive gear were confiscated as evidence.
?We told the suspect there would have been a lot of anglers who would have loved to have caught those fish legally. That?s not going to happen now, because he ruined it for them,? Quarracino said. ?Every licensed angler in the commonwealth paid the price for what this individual did.?
Quarracino explained that seasons are closed on individual species to help protect spawning females and thus ensure the health of the population.
?These were spawning. That?s why the season was closed ? to protect egg-bearing females. Two of the walleyes had significant egg masses inside them,? he said. ?They were ripe to spawn within several days to a week.?
Cash values placed on the illegally-taken fish are based on replacement value determined by the American Fishery Society calculated on the cost of replacing and restoring the aquatic life within the ecosystem.
?I absolutely hope these charges are a deterrent to anyone who might attempt something similar,? Quarracino said. ?We?re not just looking at fines here, these are misdemeanor charges. He will be required to be fingerprinted and this will stick on his criminal record. There is the potential for jail time. This is more than getting a fine for having one trout over the daily limit, this is someone who committed a grossly negligent act.?
