By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Five Sacramento-area men have been convicted in Colusa County of poaching white sturgeon from the Sacramento River.

California Department of Fish and Game wardens made the arrests in April in Sacramento after around-the-clock surveillance on the group for weeks.

All the sturgeon were caught in the Sacramento River in Colusa County.

The men were accused of consistently catching more than the legal limit and making efforts to conceal their catch from wardens. Two of the men were also observed selling sturgeon.

The harvest of white sturgeon in California for commercial purposes has been against the law for a century.

"The commercial poaching of sturgeon was the cause of the species' near-extinction in the early 1900s," said Lt. Kathy Ponting of Fish and Game in a press release. "One of these defendants sold a poached sturgeon for a mere $120."

She said that's a small price for the substantial adverse biological, social and economic effects from the catching and sale of the fish.

Those sentenced in Colusa County Superior Court were:

Ivan Banatskiy of Citrus Heights pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell sturgeon, illegally catching and possessing sturgeon and sale of sturgeon. Banatskiy, considered the ringleader of the operation, received a $19,480 fine and three years of probation.

Andrey Bukaty of Sacramento pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell sturgeon and unlawful possession of illegally caught sturgeon. He received a $950 fine and three years of probation.

Sergey Solkalskiy of Citrus Heights pleaded guilty to possession of illegally caught sturgeon and conspiracy to sell sturgeon. He received a $8,050 fine and three years probation.

Serhiy Omelchuk of Sacramento pleaded guilty to fishing without a license, various poaching-related offenses and failure to show a fish upon demand of a warden. He received a $1,200 fine.

Petr Kolosov of Rancho Cordova entered a no contest plea to two counts of littering and possession of illegally caught sturgeon. He was given a $2,510 fine and three years probation.

Fish and Game officials said they may seek to permanently strip the men of their right to fish.

Fisheries experts say the state's sturgeon population is just strong enough to maintain a limited recreational fishery. Sturgeon fishing is allowed all year but there are limits: sturgeon can be kept only if they are between 46 and 66 inches in length. Any fish longer or shorter must be released.

Sturgeon are poached for the meat and roe. The eggs are processed into caviar.