A Lake Arthur man has been sentenced for hunting violations from 2018.
Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced on Thursday September 16, 2021, that 60-year-old Kevin M. Berken of Lake Arthur was sentenced for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
According to a release, Berken was sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to pay a fine of $5,000, and all of his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges have been revoked for the two-year term of probation. Berken was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, they say.
Berken was charged in a bill of information with one count of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by taking more than the daily bag limit of ducks in any one calendar day. According to evidence presented in court, Berken was an experienced waterfowl hunter, frequently hunted in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, and participated in two hunts for ducks on December 27, 2018.
Officials say that during the first hunt on December 27, 2018, Berken and other hunters shot, killed, and possessed 10 ducks. In a second hunt later that day, Berken and another hunter shot, killed, and possessed 12 more ducks.
Agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service encountered Berken and three other hunters that day and found them to be in possession of 29 various species of ducks, they say.
According to the US Attorney's Office, this was a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in that they exceeded the daily bag limit of six ducks per hunter in one calendar day.
Berken pleaded guilty to the charge and admitted to taking more than the daily bag limit of ducks.
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