Accused ringleader in huge shellfish trafficking case a fugitive

Poachers involved in a multi-million dollar theft of shellfish that sickened customers and depleted some Washington tidelands are due in court in Seattle Friday for sentencing. The accused ringleader is still a fugitive.

It’s one of the biggest shellfish trafficking cases ever prosecuted in Washington and it began with a 2009 phone call to a state Health Department inspector. The caller said he was a buyer, that he’d purchased hundreds of dozens of oysters and that some of his customers got sick. He also told the inspector he thought the oysters were harvested illegally by a man named Rodney Clark, according to investigators with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“This is a case involving a band of thieves and a large scale theft of public and private property,” said Mike Cenci, WDFW police deputy chief of field operations.

Clark’s company was certified to harvest in five sites in the north Hood Canal area, including Quilcene Bay. So, Cenci’s officers staked them out.

“His crew never showed up,” said Cenci.

So where were they getting all those oysters? Fish and Wildlife investigators tagged Clark’s barges with GPS to track their movements. They had learned from several sources that Clark and his crews were poaching the shellfish from other areas, often at night, on boats and barges without lights, sometimes in rough weather.

“At one point, a barge full of stolen oysters overturned while it was at sea and the bad guys and the stolen oysters went into the water,” according to Cenci.

Convenience and greed are the suspected motives.

“I mean, it’s all about money,” he said.

Agents believe Clark was stealing shellfish and stockpiling it on his leased beaches.

Eventually, Fish and Wildlife agents seized thousands of pages of business records and calculated that Clark had sold stolen shellfish with a retail value of between $1.4 million and $4.9 million. The illegally harvested shellfish was sold to at least 17 buyers, probably more and sent to markets as far away as New York City, according to investigators.

“Bottom line is, he produced more shellfish than he had access to,” Cenci said.

Investigators allege that Clark and his crews falsified certification tags which are used to trace shellfish back to their source, in case of illness. Tagging is based on the honor system.

“And, if you’re less than honorable, it’s worthless,” said Cenci.

He said Clark had no interest in planting or farming the beaches where he had legal access.

“This is a pretty cool state that we live in,” remarked Cenci. “I mean, you get to go out with your family and have just this incredible day harvesting oysters and clams and when you buy a shellfish license and you go out there and it’s all raped, that’s not fair to you.”

The King County Prosecuting Attorney took on the case because much of the stolen shellfish was sold to unknowing customers in the Seattle area, including some restaurants you might recognize. Clark was charged with multiple felonies in 2011 but he skipped out on trial, facing up to seven years in prison. His attorney has not responded to requests for an interview.

Three other defendants have been sentenced for conspiracy, another four are due in King County Superior Court for sentencing Friday.

Clark’s fugitive girlfriend, defendant Karen Kenyon was recently arrested in Alaska and is fighting extradition. Fish and Wildlife has produced a wanted poster for Clark, believed hiding out in Alaska or Kona, Hawaii.