Multiple individuals face charges concerning illegal commercial catfish activity in multiple states, including Kentucky and Alabama. 

In a Facebook post, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife wrote that game warden Cody Fox and other law enforcement, including the division’s Special Investigations Unit, began investigating illegal commercial catfishing activity at Barren River Lake and Green Valley Pay Lake earlier this year.

According to officials, fishing compliance checks and many search warrants were made during the investigation. 71 occasions were found where thousands of pounds of catfish were harvested from Barren River Lake, which is not open to commercial fishing. According to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife investigators, the illegal harvest was sold to Green Valley Pay Lake in Glasgow, where the owner had knowingly purchased the fish.

Green Valley is a pay lake, an organization that offers camping, catfishing, and tournaments with cash prizes. Pay lakes are privately owned bodies of water where people can come to pay to fish. 

The individuals who sold the catfish were not licensed commercial fishermen, and the owner of Green Valley did not report any of their transactions, which is legally required. Two of the nine accused had allegedly caught over 6000 pounds of catfish from waterways in Alabama and transported them to Kentucky. Pay Lake was the purchaser of the fish in this case as well.

Fish and Wildlife reported that the Green Valley individual “knowingly purchased the catfish from a restricted waterway, from individuals who were not licensed commercial fishermen, and failed to document any of the transactions as required by law.”

According to ABC News, the Barren County Attorney’s Office said that a total of 81 charges are related to the violation of state law governing the transportation of protected wildlife. Many of the fish caught in Alabama were ‘trophy-sized’ and weighed more than 60 pounds. The nine individuals were charges a totl of 180 Fish and Wildlife related charges in Kentucky with pending charges in numerous other states.

The investigation was a collective effort of Kentucky Fish and Wildlife game wardens, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, the Alabama Game and Fish Division, and the Barren Country Attorney’s Office.