Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski's fisheries aide has resigned and faces prison time after admitting to breaking commercial fisheries laws.
Arne Fuglvog, who has long played an influential role in Alaska fisheries politics, will be sentenced to 10 months in jail if a judge agrees to his plea deal on the charge of falsifying fishing records. The deal also includes $150,000 in fines and an admission of guilt.
Fuglvog has agreed to plead guilty to one count of violating the Lacey Act — a federal law prohibiting the sale of illegally taken wildlife, fish and plants — by harvesting twice as much sablefish as he was allowed and then lying about where he caught the fish. According to the plea agreement, Fuglvog falsified records of his commercial catches several times between 2001 and 2006 while operating a boat called the Kamilar. He would fish in one area and report he'd caught the fish somewhere else, the document says.
Read the complete story from The Anchorage Daily News.