Kodiak man sentenced to one year in prison over illegal transport of Alaska crab to Washington

Yahoo

5 days ago

A tanner crab is seen in this undated photo. A Kodiak man has been sentenced to jail for illegally transporting Alaska crab out of state. (Photo provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service)
A Kodiak fisher has been sentenced to spend a year in jail for illegally shipping thousands of pounds of tanner crab, much of it infected with a parasitic disease, out of Alaska to Washington state, federal officials said.
The fisherman, Corey Potter, was also sentenced to two years' supervised release following his jail term, during which he will be barred from commercial fishing anywhere in the world, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
The investigation was led by NOAA Fisheries' Office of Law Enforcement. The sentence was imposed on May 13 by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess in Anchorage.
The case concerns tanner and Golden king crab harvested in 2024 in Southeast Alaska. Potter owned two vessels, one of them captained by his son, Kyle Potter, and the other by employee Justin Welch.
Rather than unload the crab catch in Alaska, as is required by state law, the three men kept the live crab in the vessels and took the catch to Washington state, passing through Canadian waters along the way. The motivation was to fetch higher prices for their catch, according to prosecutors' documents.
At the time, according to evidence presented in court documents, the men knew that a large proportion of the catch was infested with Bitter Crab Syndrome, a parasitic disease that usually kills the crabs and renders their meat inedible. Bitter Crab Syndrome is not toxic for people, but infected crab meat can be bitter and eating it is likened to chewing on aspirin.
That evidence included text messages from other Alaska fishers who cautioned Potter and his son against bringing infested crab to market, with one expressing concerns that their actions would hurt the reputation and marketability of all Alaska crab.
Bitter Crab Syndrome affects numerous species, and it is considered a possible contributor to the crash of Bering Sea snow crab and king crab stocks that led to an unprecedented string of harvest closures between 2021 and 2024. The main reason for the stock crashes, scientists believe, was the warmth in the habitat, which led to crab starvation. In the years leading up to the fishery closures, however, there was an increase in Bitter Crab Syndrome. The disease is linked to warming waters and climate change, according to scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Kyle Potter and Welch pleaded guilty last year. In October, Kyle Potter was sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine; Welch was sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
Ultimately, the loads of crab they delivered never made it to any market. They were seized by Washington state law enforcement officers and deemed unfit for sale or consumption. Of the Golden king crab, 42% of the catch was dead upon arrival; of the tanner crab, so much was infested that the entire load was disposed of in a landfill, federal officials said.
Potter pleaded guilty in February to two counts of violating the Lacey Act, the federal law that concerns transport of wildlife and fish across state lines. Prosecutors identified him as the leader of the scheme and therefore requested heavier penalties.
Potter, in a presentencing memorandum, asked for probation rather than jail time, arguing that his long career of fishing in Alaska has now ended and that at the age of 64, he is now financially ruined. 'As a result of last year's terrible crabbing season, which included the instant offense conduct, he has been financially destroyed. One of the boats involved in this offense was foreclosed on, and the other is believed to have been seized by the state. He has been reduced to relying upon family for assistance and has no viable means to support himself,' the May 6 defense memo said.
But prosecutors, who argued for 18 months imprisonment, said actions with the diseased crab fit Potter's yearslong pattern of sloppy maintenance and unsafe behavior.
In their presentencing report, also filed on May 6, prosecutors listed numerous past problems with the vessels Potter owned. They have been cited for chronically leaking oil, broken down at sea – requiring crew members to be rescued – and sunk in different sites, the report said.
'The defendant's track record as a vessel operator in Alaska is abysmal. He has shown a total disregard for the safety of his crew, the safety of Alaskan waterways, and the health of the marine environment,' the prosecutors' presentencing report said.
Yet to be determined is the amount of restitution that Potter will be ordered to pay for the trafficked crab. The government is seeking $187,187 in restitution. A hearing on that subject is set for July 15.