Thats to bad but it doesnt sound like poachers.
Poachers keep the fish they steal and if they were caught by the warden the fish would have been taken as evidence. Sounds more like the work of a radical eastside enviormental anti sportfishing group trying to make sportfisherman look bad. Boy I can almost see the lawsuit now "Sportfishing is wasteful and they kill native fish all rivers must be closed" or something like that.