Crystal Lake Hatchery Manager Loren Thompson pled not guilty on Nov. 13 to a charge of Littering over Five Pounds. Thompson was cited for the minor violation by Alaska Wildlife Trooper Cody Litster for dumping some 400 pounds of coho on the tide flats at Olsen’s Log Dump.

Bill Gass, production manager for Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA) which operates the Crystal Lake facility, said he didn’t have an official comment on the case itself but explained that the fish dumped at the site were brood stock coho salmon whose disposal is something the facility must con...