Connor Seifert faces charges for allegedly illegally catching and wrestling protected sharks in Washington's Puget Sound.
Connor Seifert faces multiple charges after allegedly removing protected bluntnose sixgill and broadnose sevengill sharks from the water in Pierce County, Washington. The Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife released body camera footage of an officer confronting Seifert for "wrestling" the sharks to shore. The officer explained that removing these sharks from the water during their nursery stage in Puget Sound can cause the pups inside the mothers to die as the sharks exhaust themselves. While Seifert claimed he caught the sharks by accident, his social media posts allegedly showed him sitting on a shark's back and holding its mouth open while it attempted to escape. Seifert has been charged with nine counts of unlawful recreational fishing in the second degree and one count of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. Both shark species are listed as "Species of Greatest Conservation Need" in Washington State. The department received 14 complaints regarding Seifert's actions before the official charges were filed.