The maximum fine for poaching Chinook salmon, protected under the Endangered Species Act, is $750 per fish, according to wildlife officials.

The man may have to pay poaching charges for each fish he killed at the state hatchery, which raises the threatened fish for release.

An Oregon man was recently arrested after breaking into a hatchery and killing tens of thousands of chinook salmon smolt. On April 22, the Gardiner Reedsport Winchester Bay Salmon Trout Enhancement Program (STEP) reported that someone had broken into its hatchery during the night.

A man broke into an Oregon hatchery and dumped bleach into a Chinook salmon tank, killing nearly 18,000 fish, wildlife officials said. The incident happened April 22 at the Gardiner, Reedsport, Winchester Bay Salmon Trout Enhancement Program in Reedsport, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

Court documents said the 20-year-old trespassed onto the fish hatchery, took a bottle of bleach from a storage shed and poured it into a pond.

A man is accused of attempting to poach and then killing nearly 18,000 young Chinook salmon at a tank in Reedsport, Oregon, by pouring bleach into the tank.

A 22-year-old man is accused of pouring bleach into a rearing pond at an Oregon hatchery, leading to the death of thousands of young salmon.