'Detective work' leads to felony trap theft charges

摘要

Enforcement action: Two fishermen have been charged with theft of commercial crab pots following what the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife describes as "a joint effort of citizen reporting and solid detective work."A string of 19 stolen traps within the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve was reported to ODFW in April 2019 by the owner of a vessel being used for research. According to a Sept. 8 press release, the traps were all loaded with crabs and an Oregon State Police investigator concluded they had been stolen from multiple owners.Investigators contacted crabbers who had reported stolen pots and "one by one commercial crabbers stopped by the OSP office to identify and claim their gear."