Sea otter poacher sentenced to three years

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, March 11 (UPI) -- A fisherman in Alaska convicted of poaching sea otters was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison, officials said.

The Anchorage Daily News reported Wednesday that Christopher R. Rowland, 41, was sentenced for killing 75 animals and selling the otters' pelts.

Federal prosecutors said Rowland, a commercial fisherman, planned to sell between 40 and 50 hides each month to a broker in South Korea for about $1,000 apiece.

"He was a pretty big player in Southeast," said Stan Pruszenski, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent in charge of law enforcement in Alaska. "He did have some contacts overseas and was trying to set up his business. Fortunately, I think, for us and for the sea otters, we were able to get involved with Rowland soon enough that he wasn't able to fulfill his dream, so to speak."

Rowland and an unnamed Native Alaskan accomplice used an AR-15 rifle to kill sea otters over the course of 10 days in 2007.

"One technique used was to use the skiff to rush the sea otters and shoot them in the head," court papers say. "Using this method, they were able to take about five sea otters before the pod of sea otters would dive under water."