A 30-year-old Grand Rapids man is scheduled to be arraigned July 9 in 61st District Court in Grand Rapids on charges that he illegally caught and possessed a lake sturgeon. The charges stem from a May 17 incident on the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids, when the man allegedly hooked the fish in the tail, brought it to the river bank, dragged it to a waiting pickup truck and left the area.

Several onlookers took photos on their cell phones of the man, and called after him to return the fish to the river, but he ignored them. Conservation officers from the Department of Natural Resources also will be seeking charges against the man's father, who allegedly aided and abetted the man at the scene, providing the pickup truck and driving away from the location.

The man turned himself in to the DNR's Report All Poaching hotline shortly after seeing media reports in the Grand Rapids area about the search for information on the incident.

Conservation officers have attempted to recover the fish, which the man told them he returned to the river dead, but the fish has not been located.

Poaching a lake sturgeon is punishable with jail time of 30 to 180 days, fines from $500 to $2,000, court costs and $1,500 in restitution to the state. Penalties also include revocation of his fishing license for the remainder of this year and for three following years.

The lake sturgeon is a protected species in Michigan, and is listed as a threatened species on the state's threatened and endangered species list. It is illegal to keep them on most Michigan waters, with the exception of limited seasons on Black Lake in Cheboygan County, the Michigan-Wisconsin boundary waters, Otsego Lake in Otsego County and on Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River. Anglers who catch a lake sturgeon are required, under Michigan fishing regulations, to release them immediately.

The DNR is working to restore the native lake sturgeon population. Sturgeon can live to be 100 years old, but do not reproduce until later in life. It takes male sturgeons 15 to 20 years to reach sexual maturity, and females 20 to 25 years. Sturgeon spawn every four years.

Anyone with information about the incident or about the man who poached the fish should call the DNR's Report All Poaching (RAP) Line at 800-292-7800. Information may be left confidentially.