On Friday, in a press release, the Alaska Office of Special Prosecutions detailed the sentence of a Kenai fishing guide who was found guilty of unlicensed guiding and unlawful acts during the summer of 2017.
The release states: …unlicensed Kenai River sport fishing guide William “Buck” Hollandsworth was sentenced to multiple misdemeanor counts relating to unlicensed guiding and unlawful acts by a fishing guide.
Hollandsworth was sentenced to 30 days in jail with 20 suspended, a $35,000 fine, and the forfeiture to the State of Alaska of Hollandsworth’s aluminum Wooldridge boat, EZ Loader trailer, all seized fishing gear, and all electronics on the vessel.
The seven charges brought against Hollandsworth by the state stem from the summer of 2017, in which the report says Hollandsworth provided sport fish guiding services for king salmon fishing without a guide’s license.
In addition to illegally guiding, Hollandsworth was also found guilty of allowing “clients to fish with bait when the river was open only for fishing with a single unbaited hook, operated his unregistered sport fishing guide vessel after 6:00 p.m, and allowed a client to continue fishing after catching the daily limit of king salmon.”
Park rangers and Alaska Wildlife Troopers contacted Hollandsworth in late July of 2017, while he was guiding several out-of-state anglers. Those agencies applied for and received a warrant to seize Hollandsworth’s aluminum Wooldridge boat, trailer, and all fishing gear and electronics on the vessel based on the knowledge that he “had been acting as an unlicensed guide for some time”, according to the release.
During Hollandsworth’s sentencing in Kenai, the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Aaron Peterson, from the Department of Law, Office of Special Prosecutions, argued, “The Kenai King numbers have dwindled over the years, but anglers from all over the state and the world descend on the Kenai Peninsula every summer in hopes of hauling in a world class fish. The anglers sustain businesses large and small, from Kenai Lake to Cook Inlet. Protection of natural resources in this state is of paramount importance, and nowhere is it more important than on the Kenai Peninsula. Without active fishing management, vigorous enforcement of the regulations, and significant sentencing these fish will be wiped out and the sport, subsistence, and economic opportunity of thousands of Alaskans gone with them. This is one of the only places on earth where residents can drive a short distance from their home and fish for large wild king salmon, that will only remain true if management is taken seriously and punishment for violating the regulations designed to ensure healthy populations are severe.”
A Kenai Peninsula jury found him guilty of all seven counts against him. Click here for the full press release.
Following Hollandsworth’s jail-time, the court ordered that he be placed on a one-year probation, during which he may not fish or be in a boat with persons that are fishing on the Kenai River.