A Southeast charter operator will pay $60,000 in fines after pleading guilty to a criminal charge stemming from an undercover sportfishing sting operation last fall, according to the state Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals.

Prosecutors contend that Elfin Cove Eagle Charters Alaska LLC was legally accountable for the actions of four guides who, while working on behalf of the corporation, committed multiple fishing violations that were documented by Alaska Wildlife Troopers, according to court documents. The charter pleaded guilty to aiding in the commission of a violation.

"Corporations can be held liable for the actions of their employees provided that the employees' actions are within the course and scope of their employment," Assistant Attorney General Andrew Peterson said. "Individual guides come and go. Individual deckhands come and go. And so, if they're the only ones who pay a penalty, there's really no incentive by the corporation to ensure that everybody's always complying."

Troopers began putting the case together on Aug. 29, 2009, when two undercover troopers arrived at Eagle Charters lodge in Elfin Cove and booked a four-day, five-night fishing trip, according to an affidavit filed in court by Assistant Attorney General Andrew Peterson.

On each of the next four days, a different guide took them out, and in each case troopers say they saw wildlife violations.

Federal law sets the local halibut limit at one a day for sport charters, prohibits the crew from fishing and limits anglers to one line each. Troopers reported that the guides were fishing, taking over the limits of halibut, fishing more than one line per client and failing to record the harvested fish, including several sharks that were killed and dumped into the sea, Peterson wrote.

The guides were identified as Michael Moon, Joshua Baymiller, Riley Niewenhuis and Kenneth Ecklund. They have not been charged, though the case remains under investigation, Peterson said.

Elfin Cove Eagle Charters Alaska was charged last week and pleaded guilty to the Class A misdemeanor Tuesday. The company received a fine of $150,000 with $90,000 suspended and was placed on probation for three years.

Four boats involved in the violations that were seized in the investigation will be returned to the company, troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said.

Elfin Cove Eagle Charters Alaska is primarily owned by Joseph Kulavik of Vancouver, Wash., according to state records. Kulavik said after the hearing that the company employs nine captains and four of them got too aggressive in their jobs. The company plans to bring in a compliance officer to educate the captains on proper procedures, he said.

"We just had some aggressive fishermen that was trying to compete," Kulavik said. "They just got caught up in it. They've been good people up until that point and for some reason they just lost it. It was the end of the season, it was September, and it should have never happened."