Three men charged with poaching Lake Erie Steelhead
A trio of Ohio men has been charged with 22 violations of the Fish and Boat Code for allegedly illegally netting steelhead trout with a combined weight of more than 300 pounds from Walnut Creek, in Fairview Township, Erie County. Forty-year-old Anatoliy Zozulya, 43-year-old Eugeniusz Sroka and 48-year-old Vladimir Yewtukh – all of Parma, Ohio – face a possible total of $5,097 in fines for poaching 53 steelhead trout from an area of the stream south of a location known popularly by anglers as “the Manchester Hole.”
Among the total of 22 individual charges filed by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission are violations for allegedly fishing without proper licenses, using illegal devices (landing nets) to take fish, being over the legal daily limit for steelhead, attempting to flee/elude law enforcement officers, misuse of property, failure to produce required identification, making fraudulent statements to enforcement officers and littering.
Conservation Officer (WCO) Mark Kerr and Deputy Waterways Conservation Officer (DWCO) Mike McSkimming were on a night patrol Oct. 21 when they heard unusual noises along the stream. Observing the three men from a distance, Kerr and McSkimming saw the trio netting steelhead and approached them. The three fled; one was captured immediately.
WCO John Bowser and DWCOs Duane English and Randy Leighton located the suspects’ vehicle at a nearby nursing home and apprehended the other two individuals shortly afterwards.
Officers initially found a total of 23 steelhead in the men’s possession. A daylight search of the area the next morning uncovered an additional 28 fish.