CDFW Delta Bay Enhanced Enforcement Program, and the Special Operations Unit was commended by the Colusa County District Attorney’s Office on their excellent investigation helping to convict Justin D. Lewis of Placer County for illegally selling Pacific lamprey.On May 21, 2025, Lewis from Placer County was sentenced to two years in jail and over $20,000 in fines in Colusa County Superior Court for his part in a conspiracy to commercialize California wildlife — in this instance Pacific lamprey, a jawless fish that Lewis sourced from the Klamath River in Del Norte County and resold through co-conspirators in Colusa County and elsewhere.
Lamprey are highly regarded as bait for sturgeon and other fish, and are usually sourced commercially from Alaska. Because of a temporary downturn in the bait market, Lewis, and others, created an illegal commercial market for California lamprey.
Beyond their value as bait for anglers, lamprey have significant food and cultural value to Yurok tribal members in Del Norte County, as well as other tribal communities in the area.
“This case highlights the critical importance of protecting California’s native species and the ecosystems they support,” said Nathaniel Arnold, Chief of Enforcement at CDFW. “The illegal commercialization of lamprey not only threatens a vulnerable species but also disregards the cultural significance they hold for tribal communities.”
Lewis will serve one year of his sentence in the Colusa County Jail, while the balance of his sentence will be served on supervised release post incarceration. Lewis’ fishing privilege and other outdoor privileges will be suspended during this time.
CDFW Thanks Matt Carr, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case at trial and District Attorney Mathew R. Beauchamp with Colusa County. Carr handled the lamprey case as a California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) grant-funded circuit prosecutor. Carr handles pollution, poaching and other environmental cases for Colusa County and other rural counties at the direction of the local district attorneys.
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