An Oregon man faces ten counts after allegedly catching and wrestling legally protected sharks in Pierce County.
Investigators told KIRO 7 it took months of effort to bring the charges.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said sixgill sharks come to South Puget Sound to give birth, and the trauma they sustained during these incidents likely resulted in pregnancies being lost.
Body cam footage shows a WDFW officer confronting a man on the Fox Island fishing pier.
Prosecutors identified the man in the video as Connor Seifert, who is accused of repeatedly targeting sixgill and sevengill sharks in south Puget Sound.
“Targeting these sharks, catching them, mishandling them, dragging them out of the water, wrestling with them,” Lt. Kit Rosenberger of WDFW police said.
WDFW shared multiple videos they claim Seifert posted to social media. In one, a shark is held by the nose with its mouth open. In another, a shark is dragged out of the water by its tail. Another clip shows a shark being carried through the air, writhing.
“A lot of those videos are of great concern to us and our department,” Rosenberger said.
Investigators said Seifert also posted an image of a teenager with a shark to his Facebook page. Investigators then tracked down the teen and his father to learn more about his alleged methods.
An officer later returned to the pier and said he watched Seifert and a group catch a sixgill shark before Seifert pulled it out of the water, wrestled with it and posed for a picture.
“Well, obviously, no respect for the rules,” Dan Green, a Pierce County fisherman, said.
Green told KIRO 7 he was appalled by the case, though he recognized the suspect from his social media videos.
He told KIRO 7 the punishment should fit the crime.
“For grabbing a shark like that?” Green said. “I think a lot of public service and 18 months.”
Seifert faces nine misdemeanor counts of second-degree unlawful recreational fishing and one count of false statement to a public servant.
KIRO 7 reached out to Seifert and his lawyer.
Both said they had no comment.
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