A biologist and a bartender were charged in Wisconsin for selling illegal caviar
In the same week sturgeon season began, Calumet County’s district attorney filed charges against Ryan Koenigs, Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologist, for selling or trading valuable fish eggs illegally. Court documents reveal the investigation started in 2017 and multiple people were involved, according to Wisconsin Public Radio. The documents allege that DNR employees were giving eggs, meant to study fertility, to processors, in return for jars of caviar. Sturgeon is extremely vulnerable to overfishing, and Wisconsin’s laws are strict. Earlier this month, Shawn Wendt, a bartender in Fond du Lac County, was charged with two counts of illegally selling sturgeon roe.
