Saxis man to serve prison time for illegally harvesting and selling rock fish

By Linda Cicoira

A Saxis man will serve four months in prison for illegally harvesting rock fish and illegally selling them to a Maryland buyer.  52 year old Keith J. Martin pled guilty to the charges in June.

Linda Cicoira reported that according to court documents, Martin, was licensed to harvest the fish in Virginia, but he took more than his quota, failed to report the amount of bass he took, and completed at least one sale of rockfish with a commercial purchaser without using a properly certified scale.

Between 2018 and 2020, Martin had a quota of 4,010 pounds of rockfish, an announcement stated. Investigators learned that Martin sold over 6,000 pounds of the fish to a single seafood company in Maryland in 2018 and more than 4,300 pounds to the same company in 2019. the combination of violating state law and transporting the fish to Maryland, constitutes a violation of the Lacey Act.

Upon release from prison, Martin will serve three years of supervised release and will be prohibited from any commercial fishing activities unless approved by his probation officer.  Martin will also to participate in an approved mental health treatment program.