Duck hunter to pay $5k fine, serve 2 years probation, do community service for violating hunting laws

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- A Lake Arthur man has been sentenced for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and must pay a $5,000 fine, serve two years probation during which time his hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges are revoked, and complete 100 hours of community service.

Kevin Berken, 60, of Lake Charles, 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, and participated in two hunts for ducks on December 27, 2018.

During the first hunt on December 27, 2018, Berken and other hunters jointly 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.

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.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Louisiana Department of Fish and Wildlife Service conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Danny Siefker prosecuted the case.