Oregon Man Faces Charges for Catching Protected Sharks in Puget Sound

A man from Oregon has been charged for allegedly catching and handling protected bluntnose sixgill and broadnose sevengill sharks in Puget Sound. Officials from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife released body camera footage of the incident involving Connor Seifert, 27, that occurred in June in Pierce County, Washington.

In the video, an officer confronts Seifert, saying, “You know your shark rules. You can’t fully or partially remove sixgill from the water.” The officer continued explaining, “By wrestling a sixgill to shore, you expose its gills to the air, risking the life of its unborn pups.” These interactions, he noted, can result in reduced shark populations in Puget Sound.

Authorities tracked Seifert’s actions and online activity for several months, leading to surveillance and his eventual arrest. He faces nine counts of unlawful recreational fishing in the second degree and one count of making false or misleading statements to a public servant in Pierce County. These charges include possible fines and jail time.

The department reported an increase in illegal fishing activities, with more offenders posting about their actions online. Seifert has been accused of targeting sharks, despite his claims of accidental catches. Videos reportedly show him holding a shark’s mouth open and sitting on its back, contradicting his statements.

Puget Sound serves as a nursery for these shark species before they migrate to the ocean. The department emphasizes this as a key reason for protecting these sharks, given their vulnerable status. Both bluntnose sixgills and broadnose sevengills face threats to their populations, with the former classified as “near threatened” and the latter as “vulnerable” by conservation authorities.