Boise Man Sentenced For Spearing Chinook

A Boise man has been sentenced to five days in jail and fined $845 for illegally spearing a chinook salmon on its spawning bed in the South Fork of the Salmon River.

Valley County Magistrate Darla Williamson also ordered Jason D. Rawlins on Tuesday to pay a $100 civil penalty for restitution.

Rawlins killed the hatchery-raised female salmon Sept. 4 with a scuba-diving spear in the Poverty Flat area, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game said.

His brother, James Rawlins of Boise, was fined $300 plus $63.50 for court costs for obstructing and delaying an officer by giving false statements when questioned by Fish and Game conservation officer George Fischer.

Both brothers pleaded guilty.

Acting on tips from several witnesses, Fischer discovered the carcass of the chinook killed by Jason Rawlins tied to a log at Poverty Flat. He also found the diving spear used to catch the fish hidden along the shore.

A sign posted near the salmon spawning area cites the presence of spawning chinook and their nests, or redds. It also includes a picture of adult chinook salmon.

Fish and Game officials said the Rawlins brothers told investigators they thought the fish in the stream were brown trout. At another point they claimed to have mistaken the large chinook for kokanee, a trout-sized form of sockeye salmon that does not migrate to the ocean.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has decided not to pursue federal charges against the men. Wild Snake River chinook salmon are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.