c)? A taxidermist or tanner who sells a mounted wild animal, wild bird, head or tanned skin in accordance with this section shall, until the second anniversary of the completion of the taxidermy or tanning, keep records of the identity of the person who left the wild animal, wild bird, head or hiding place for taxidermy or tanning. ? Documentation in this section may include a hunting tag, wildlife resource document or cold storage record. During today`s closing argument, the court heard that Schmidt is the owner of Alive Again Recreations, a taxidermy business he operates from his home in Corpus Christi. Schmidt also owns and operates Global Game Birds (GGB). Through GGB, Schmidt has offered hunting trips to Argentina, Peru, Scotland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand for people with hunting opportunities for rarely seen bird species. Nothing in this Subchapter prohibits a taxidermist from possessing a furbearing animal lawfully captured or possessed under this Subchapter for taxidermy purposes, provided that the animal is accompanied by a wildlife resource document in accordance with Subchapter A of this Chapter (concerning the National Proclamation on Hunting and Fishing) or, if the furbearing animal was moved out of Texas, proof of legal taking, purchase, or possession of the state or land; into which the furry animal was brought. Eric Martin Schmidt, 35, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Jason B. Libby. He was then ordered to make a charitable payment of $2,500 to the Lacey Law Reward Fund and must serve five years of probation. Schmidt also donated more than 60 species of bird mounts that were illegally killed to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
b)? Repealed by Act 2005, 79th Parl., c. 992, ?? 32(2). The provisions of this article 65.383, which entered into force on October 21, 2003, 28 TexReg 9084 Schmidt was charged with a criminal complaint with one count each for violation of the Lacey, ESA and MBTA Act. The Lacey Act prohibits any person from knowingly importing, exporting, transporting, selling, or buying wildlife that has been taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any laws, statutes, regulations, or treaties of the United States or any other country. The ESA prohibits persons under U.S. jurisdiction from trading wildlife that violate the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The MBTA prohibits any person, except as permitted by regulation, from pursuing, hunting, capturing or capturing migratory birds contained in the provisions of the Agreement between the United States and Other Nations for the Protection of Migratory Birds. In June 2013, Schmidt traveled to New Zealand and returned to Corpus Christi with 24 wild and non-wild birds that he hunted in New Zealand.
Among the birds he hunted were six Pacific black ducks (Anas superciliosa), listed and protected under the MBTA. CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A taxidermist and hunting guide from Corpus Christi has been convicted of violating the Lacey Act, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Migratory Birds Treaty Act (MBTA), U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson has announced. In June 2012, Schmidt traveled to Argentina and returned to Corpus Christi with 18 birds that he hunted in Argentina. Among the birds he killed and imported was a crested duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos), a species listed and protected by CITES. a)? If the owner of a lawfully removed wildlife or wild bird, including the head or skin of a legally removed wild animal or wild bird that has been mounted or tanned, has not claimed the mounted wildlife animal, wild bird or tanned head or skin within 90 days of notification by a taxidermist or tanner, The taxidermist or tanner may use the mounted wild animal: sell the wild bird, the wild bird other than a migratory wild bird, or the tanned head or skin for the amount due for the work performed. FWS conducted the investigation. U.S. Assistant U.S.
Attorney Hugo R. Martinez continued the case. In July 2011, Schmidt traveled from Corpus Christi to Peru and hunted about 30 native birds, including an Andean red duck (Oxyura ferruginea) and a torrent duck (Merganetta armata). At the end of his hunting trip, Schmidt exported all 30 birds from Peru without an export permit.