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DIVER NABBED WITH 63 ABALONE
Published on February 24, 2002
© 2002- The Press Democrat
BYLINE: SAM KENNEDY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
PAGE: B3
After allegedly poaching 63 abalone in less than an hour, a Mendocino County man was arrested, state game wardens said Saturday.
Larry St. Clair was under surveillance as he donned scuba-diving gear Friday and disappeared into the icy waters off Russian Gulch State Park.
Wardens said he surfaced 50 minutes later and tied a sack containing the mollusks to a buoy. He apparently shucked the fleshy bodies from their shells underwater.
``It's significant because it shows just how much damage can be done by one person in less than an hour's period,'' said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game.
State regulations allow sport fishermen to harvest no more than three abalone a day and 24 a year. A split season runs from April through June and August through November.
Commercial abalone fishing is prohibited.
Martarano said black market abalone is sold door-to-door, in mom-and-pop grocery stores and at backroom card games. Each one fetches about $45.
At that price, St. Clair's take was worth about $2,800.
Fish and Game agents later searched St. Clair's home in Potter Valley and found another 40 abalone in a freezer.
St. Clair, 31, is suspected of poaching several thousand abalone over the past 10 months, Martarano said. He reportedly sold his catch in San Francisco.
The arrest was the culmination of a three-week investigation by Fish and Game's special operations unit.
St. Clair was taken to the Mendocino County Jail, where he posted $40,000 bail.
Fish and Game expects to arrest St. Clair's buyer too, Martarano said. If that happens, he said St. Clair could face conspiracy charges carrying a three-year prison sentence and a fine of at least $20,000.
Keywords: FISHING THEFT
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