The Marine Board, marine law enforcement from 18 county sheriff’s offices, Oregon State Police, and five Oregon U.S. Coast Guard Stations will be participating in Operation Dry Water during the weekend of July 3-5, as part of a nationally coordinated effort to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities related to Boating Under the Influence of Intoxicants.
“We have multiple patrols scheduled this season to catch impaired boat operators,” said Randy Henry, Boating Safety Program Manager for the Marine Board. “We also have new tools. The legislature gave us the authority in 2020 to take your boater education card for up to three years, if convicted.”
Many marine officers have completed specialized training to recognize alcohol and drug impairment. This includes prescription drugs, alcohol, inhalants, marijuana, or any other substance that impairs a person’s ability to make sound judgments and to safely operate a boat.
The effects of drugs and alcohol are also amplified on the water with the combination of sun glare, wind, waves, and other environmental stressors. Alcohol also dehydrates the body making sudden immersion into cold water at an even greater risk for drowning.
Impaired boaters can expect to be arrested or face serious penalties. In Oregon, the consequences of being convicted of BUII include the possibility of jail time, $6,250 in fines, loss of boating privileges and a one to three-year suspension of the boater education card and potentially being court-mandated to take another boating safety course.
Marine officers can arrest boaters on observed impairment and can legally obtain blood, breath or urine if a boater fails field sobriety testing. Officers have already arrested three people for BUII this year and at least two fatalities appear to have involved alcohol or drugs.
“Overall, recreational boating is safe if boaters wear life jackets, boat sober, and keep a sharp lookout. Waterways are becoming more crowded with a variety of mixed boating and other activities, so it’s important to pay attention to what’s going on around you and to follow the navigation rules of the road.
If boaters changed two things; wear life jackets and abstain from impairing substances, accidents would be rare,” says Henry. “We’re facing a high number of boating fatalities already this year just from cold water and life jackets not being worn. We really want to keep alcohol and drugs out of the mix, or we’ll be at record high fatalities for 2020. We want to ensure that boating remains safe and fun.”
Henry goes on to say, “The public is our ally in safe boating. If you see an impaired operator or someone who is operating in a way that threatens others’ safety, call 911 and report it. That’s how we can work together to save lives.”
For more information about Operation Dry Water, visit http://www.operationdrywater.org.
* * * * *
Illegal shark fin sales in a Portland grocery store marks the first conviction under an Oregon law that prohibits possession, sale, trade or distribution of shark fins.
The June 4 conviction calls into play a law created in 2011 to preserve vulnerable shark populations.
Agnes Yu, 52, of Happy Valley, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing, selling, or trading shark fin, after selling dried shark fin through Wing Ming Herbs, a specialty food store in SE Portland that she and her husband own. She was sentenced to 12 months bench probation, $1,000 in fines and $360 in restitutions for the Class A Misdemeanor.
The case was prosecuted by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, with assistance from the Environmental and Cultural Resources Enforcement Unit of the Oregon Department of Justice. The plea and sentencing, presided over by the Hon. Christopher Marshall, concluded and investigation that lasted over a year and involved Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Troopers, and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. An undercover informant was instrumental in discovering and then making the case.
Marketing shark fin, like many illegal endeavors, is through word-of-mouth. When an anonymous source approached OSPFW troopers and said they had heard Wing Ming Herbs was selling shark fin, detectives enlisted the source as an undercover informant to assist in a sting operation. According to OSP Lt. Ryan Howell, on Jan. 23, 2018, the informant was able to record the purchase of six packages of dried, processed shark fin from Yu. Yu was not cited for the offense until September of 2019, due to a separate investigation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Shark fin is a delicacy in some cultures and broth made with the fin is traditional fare for weddings and other occasions. Large single fins are most prized, with trimmings from those fins creating a lesser product. DNA testing of the dried fins from Wing Ming Herbs returned trimmings from five shark species: blue shark, black-nose shark, Caribbean sharp-nosed shark, small tail shark and small eye hammerhead shark.
Blue sharks are native to Oregon waters. NOAA’s test results did not distinguish whether the blue shark in the packages was from Oregon waters or elsewhere in the Pacific.
U.S. laws forbid animal parts trafficking.
Trafficking of shark fin is both damaging to global populations and difficult to detect. Oregon sentencing standards are tougher than Federal guidelines and Yu’s sentencing reflects Oregon’s strict laws against selling, trading or distributing shark fins.
“When people create avenues for illegally selling imported wildlife, it creates the infrastructure for Oregon wildlife like bears, raptors, turtles and sturgeon, to be illegally traded as well,” said ODFW Stop Poaching campaign coordinator Yvonne Shaw. “This is a win not only because it stopped wildlife trafficking in one location, but also because it weakens those illegal networks.”