PALMER -- A 59-year-old Trapper Creek miner has been fined $5,000 for diverting a creek used by salmon.

The state Office of Special Prosecutions says a Palmer jury last week deliberated less than three hours to find Samuel C. Turner guilty of two Fish and Game violations.

Turner was charged with diverting Cache Creek, which is used by salmon -- king, coho and pink -- for spawning, rearing and migration.

Assistant Attorney General Clint Campion says the diversion was discovered in October during a Department of Natural Resources mining aerial survey.

A state investigator and habitat biologists later concluded that Turner diverted more than 550 feet of Cache Creek downstream of his main mining operation.

The special prosecutions office says Turner has begun developing a plan to return Cache Creek to its natural flow.