Man accused of illegally 'wrestling' protected sharks in Washington state after months-long investigation
An Oregon man is facing charges for allegedly illegally catching and "wrestling" protected bluntnose sixgill and broadnose sevengill sharks in Puget Sound. The Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife recently shared body camera footage of an officer confronting Connor Seifert, 27, in June in Pierce County, Washington. "You know your shark rules," the officer could be heard on the video telling Seifert. "You can’t fully or partially remove sixgill from the water. SHARK SIGHTINGS SPIKE NEAR AMERICA'S BEACHES AS JULY 4 CROWDS HEAD TO SHORE FOR WEEKEND "When you wrestle a sixgill to shore like that, you hop on its back, you expose its gills to the air," the officer continued. "You know as well as anybody else does that Puget Sound is a nursery for these sharks. There has been a direct correlation between catching these sharks in this stage in their lives and the mortality of the pups inside the moms." He added, "Once they e...