BY: JAMES BROOKS – MAY 25, 2024 5:00 AM

 A sperm whale is seen in an undated photo published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (NOAA photo)

A Southeast Alaska fisherman has agreed to plead guilty to a federal misdemeanor after admitting that he directed the shooting of a sperm whale northwest of Sitka in March 2020.

According to federal court filings, fisherman Dugan Daniels ordered a member of his crew to shoot the whale and tried to ram it with his fishing boat, the Pacific Bounty. 

Daniels also agreed to plead guilty to a felony for lying about a sablefish catch in fall 2020, according to the text of the plea deal. His attorney declined comment on the case.

The charges and the plea deal were filed by federal prosecutors last week and were first reported by Court Watch, a newsletter that monitors federal legal filings nationwide.

Under the terms of the agreement, Daniels will pay a $25,000 fine and be sentenced to no more than 6 months in prison, with the exact term to be set by a judge. 

Daniels also will perform 80 hours of community service, and if he owns, operates or manages a commercial fishing boat in the future, it must be monitored by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Daniels is a board member of the Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, which oversees fish hatcheries in southern Southeast Alaska.

Association manager Susan Doherty said she was unaware of the charges until contacted by a reporter. Daniels had been appointed to the board to fill a vacancy, she said, and had been serving since January.

Reagan Zimmerman, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Alaska, said the office is “unaware of any prior criminal case involving the taking of a sperm whale in the District of Alaska, so this is a first of its kind case.”

The case was investigated by the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, she said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is the parent agency of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

A NOAA attorney declined comment on Friday.

According to the plea deal, Daniels recounted his encounter with the whale, “specifically, his crew shooting the sperm whale, his efforts to ram the whale with the vessel and coming within five feet of doing so, and his desire to kill the sperm whale,” in text messages to multiple people.

The document isn’t clear about whether the whale survived the encounter.

“That information is not within the public record, so our office cannot comment on the status of the whale,” Zimmerman said.

Explaining the sablefish felony, the plea deal states that Daniels falsified fisheries records so that it appeared his boat caught more than 12,000 pounds of sablefish — also called black cod — in federal waters. In reality, federal prosecutors said, he caught the fish in state waters, where the fishery is more tightly regulated.

Court records show Daniels is scheduled to appear in court at Juneau on June 6 to be arraigned and formally offer a guilty plea. 

Kristen Lawrence

Mon, May 27, 2024 at 1:00 AM PDT·2 min read

https://www.yahoo.com/news/national-park-reverses-course-plan-080000061.html?guccounter=1

In a major conservation win for grizzly bears and wild horses, the National Park Service greenlighted a plan to preserve the species in two separate national parks in Washington and North Dakota.

As the Guardian reported, the NPS reversed a decision to remove about 200 wild horses from Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, which would’ve taken away a huge part of the park’s history.

The outlet explained that the horses “descended from those belonging to Native American tribes who fought the 1876 Great Sioux War.”

In addition, their presence shaped many of Theodore Roosevelt’s experiences as a cattle rancher and hunter in the state both before and during his presidency.

“Given the broad public support for maintaining the wild horses at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, as well as the measure we passed through Congress, this is the right call by NPS,” North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said in a statement.

Hundreds of miles west in the North Cascades ecosystem in Washington, grizzly bears will soon roam the rugged landscape after not being seen in the region since 1996, according to the NPS. The agency partnered with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in a move to restore the threatened bears to the park by relocating grizzlies from other wilderness areas in the Rocky Mountains and interior British Columbia.

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The plan will see three to seven grizzly bears introduced to the North Cascades each year for five to 10 years to bring the population to 25 bears. In the long term, the NPS hopes to repopulate the area with at least 200 bears within 60 to 100 years.

According to the Spokesman-Review, the park service will select mostly female bears between two and five years old that have no history of human conflict in order to drive the population while also taking precautions to keep park visitors safe.

“This is incredible news,” Kathleen Callaghy, the north-west representative for Defenders of Wildlife’s species conservation and coexistence department, told the Guardian.

Restoration efforts like these make park visits a more memorable experience for tourists while also providing opportunities to educate the public about the importance of preserving nature.

In addition, efforts to conserve wild places, such as the movement to give nature legal rights and an agreement by 200 countries to protect the oceans, help ensure healthy ecosystems for all species.

Speaking on the bear and wild horse preservation projects, Graham Taylor, northwest program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, said to the Guardian, “For one generation to have wildlife, and the next generation not, is not how they’re supposed to be managed, so this really is the park service following their mission by protecting and trying to restore lost resources.

by Lindsey CarnettMay 24, 2024

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• https://sanantonioreport.org/texas-parks-and-wildlife-regulations-hunting-mountain-lions/

For the first time in state history, Texas policymakers have enacted rules and regulations regarding the hunting and trapping of mountain lions.

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This week, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission unanimously approved new regulations that prohibit the “canned” hunting of mountain lions and establish a 36-hour time frame for checking traps to ensure the humane treatment of live mountain lions.

Previously, of the 16 states home to breeding mountain lions, Texas was the only state that did not regulate the hunting and trapping of the species. The new rules make it illegal to capture and later release a mountain lion to be pursued and killed or to keep a mountain lion alive in traps or snares for more than 36 hours. A violation is a Class C misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $500 but no jail time.

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The new regulation updates the state’s mountain lion policies to be consistent with current Texas furbearer regulations and standard trapping ethics. Previously, mountain lions could be trapped and hunted year-round in Texas without any harvest limits, hunting seasons or any requirement to report a lion kill.

Texans for Mountain Lions coalition member and wildlife filmmaker Ben Masters applauded the decision, stating that “mountain lions are important to the culture of Texas and belong in the future of our state.” Texans for Mountain Lions is a coalition of landowners, biologists, conservationists and organizations that aims to improve the status and conservation of the mountain lion in Texas.

“If there’s one thing that Texans can agree on, it’s that the symbol of wildness in our state, the mountain lion, shouldn’t be left in traps days or weeks on end until they die from dehydration and exposure,” Masters said. “It was inspiring to see ranchers, trappers, hunters, hippies, outfitters, biologists and wildlife advocates from across the state all converge to support more respectful management of our cats.”

A 2022 Texas A&M University survey showed that 75% of the more than 700 citizens surveyed support trap check periods of 36 hours or less for mountain lions. Livestock owners and hunters were as supportive of this measure as nonhunters and people who did not own livestock, Texans for Mountain Lions stated in a press release.

This year, a Texans for Mountain Lions advisory group issued a report outlining their three priorities: that Texas collect more data on mountain lion distribution, numbers and mortality; that Texas create an official mountain lion management plan; and that canned hunting of mountain lions should be prohibited. The 11 Texas Parks and Wildlife commissioners subsequently requested a public comment period on these actions and voted to approve them on Thursday.

“It is heartening to see the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department genuinely and thoughtfully move the needle on behalf of a species that so many Texans value as part of our natural heritage, and that gives back in supporting the health of our ecosystems,” said Patricia Harveson, a Texans for Mountain Lions coalition member and wildlife researcher who spent much of her career studying mountain lions.