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finchaser
02-02-2011, 12:18 AM
Maryland Poachers
(From Baltimore Sun)
Quote:
Natural Resources Police seized an illegal fishing net filled with nearly three tons of striped bass Tuesday morning off Bloody Point at the tip of Kent Island.

It is believed to be the largest single illegal netting of striped bass in a quarter of a century. The haul, with a market value of about $15,000, was so large that the 25-foot patrol boat had to radio the 73-foot buoy tender M/V J.C. Widener for help.

"My gosh, I did not expect this many fish," said Cpl. Roy Rafter, who spearheaded the operation that began Monday afternoon and continued overnight. "It's overwhelming."

Ten officers and Department of Natural Resources employees spent the afternoon at the Matapeake pier on Kent Island cutting fish out of netting and preparing them for sale. The fish averaged 27 inches and about 10 pounds, with some 40-inch fish mixed in.

The conservation community expressed anger at the latest example of lawlessness.

"This is another example of the staggering abuse of our state natural resources by gill nets," said Tony Friedrich, executive director of Coastal Conservation Association Maryland. "It also shows why NRP's effective enforcement of our marine laws is critical for a healthy bay."

Said Bill Goldsborough, a Chesapeake Bay Foundation scientist and member of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: "The watermen's community has to step up more than it has and put its house in order. They have to put pressure on the illegal watermen."

State officials, who have toughened penalties and stepped up prosecution, vowed to squeeze the poachers even harder. The public, in turn, is offering police tips as never before, said Joe Gill, DNR's deputy secretary and former assistant attorney general.

"This is a sign of good, aggressive police work. This is a sign we are catching offenders," he said. "I think it is unacceptable to the public, as perhaps it wasn't before, to allow this kind of poaching to go on."

Rafter said three unmarked nets were tied together and anchored to form a 900-yard-long death trap.

Gill nets that drift are legal in Maryland. But anchored gill nets — mazes of nylon mesh held in place on the bay bottom by multiple anchors — were banned in 1985 to protect the population of striped bass, also known as rockfish.

Watermen are required to stay within two miles of their gill nets because of the risk that large numbers of other fish could be caught in them and killed. They also are required to mark nets with plastic floats.

Rafter and Officers Greg Harris and Drew Wilson discovered the net Monday afternoon while dragging a popular illegal fishing area on the opening day of the gill net season. It is part of an annual cat-and-mouse game between poachers and their underwater nets and police with their hooks and sonar.

For example, NRP arrested eight Rock Hall watermen last February for numerous striped bass violations, including netting oversized fish. In 2001, 11 Rock Hall watermen were arrested for poaching in the Chester River and officers seized 3,950 pounds of striped bass with a market value of $6,200. In the winter of 1993, officers hauled up 22 illegal nets totaling five miles dotting the Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore County to Calvert County.

On Monday, after hooking the net, the officers marked it and returned it to the bottom. At midnight, with snow and sleet falling, the officers staked out the area, hoping the poacher would return.

"Ice covered everything. We had to chip away at the build-up on the windows just to keep watch," said Rafter, a former waterman and deputy sheriff. "At dawn, the fog moved in. The only saving grace was the winds were calm and the water was flat."

At 7 a.m., they began hauling in the net and pulling out the fish. When the pile was 3-feet deep on the deck, they called for help. The Widener, on icebreaking duties in the Magothy River, headed across the bay.

The nets will be destroyed and money from the sale of the fish will go to buy more surveillance gear for NRP. Rafter said they have their suspicions about the identity of the poachers, "but it would be hard to prove"

gjb1969
02-02-2011, 09:30 AM
money money some people are just sick!!!:devil:

plugginpete
02-02-2011, 03:56 PM
I agree, greedy bastards.

lostatsea
02-02-2011, 04:01 PM
Why even bother giving us limits when these guys can rape the waters like that?

jonthepain
02-02-2011, 06:52 PM
dittos

makes me ill

BassBuddah
02-02-2011, 08:43 PM
Maryland Poachers
(Said Bill Goldsborough, a Chesapeake Bay Foundation scientist and member of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: "The watermen's community has to step up more than it has and put its house in order. They have to put pressure on the illegal watermen."

State officials, who have toughened penalties and stepped up prosecution, vowed to squeeze the poachers even harder. The public, in turn, is offering police tips as never before, said Joe Gill, DNR's deputy secretary and former assistant attorney general.

"This is a sign of good, aggressive police work. This is a sign we are catching offenders," he said. "I think it is unacceptable to the public, as perhaps it wasn't before, to allow this kind of poaching to go on."


I am glad that the public is more involved in calling in tips. These guys will not comply with the law whether their "community" puts more pressure on them or not. Guys like this are basically the scum of the earth and will not change no matter what. Thanks for the report finchaser.

cardoc765
02-04-2011, 11:31 AM
And they want to say that recreational fisherman are the cause of the drop in bass population. True, there are some googans out there that contribute to it, but when you have commercial guys doing crap like this the damage is greater. Not that the rec guys should continue what they are doing. My thing is, be happy we can keep some when the season is open. Leave some for another day of fishing.

finchaser
02-04-2011, 03:35 PM
latest report is up to 10 tons of bass 2 more net loads confiscated

ledhead36
02-04-2011, 04:20 PM
latest report is up to 10 tons of bass 2 more net loads confiscated

I almost thought that was a separate, additional bust finchaser, wasn't it?
Here is the original thread you authored a while ago talking about commercial waste. You were one of the first guys here to bring this up. I added to it with the new report on the 10 tons and will post this link in case anyone wants to read. This is abominable.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5621-Commercial-waste

finchaser
02-04-2011, 07:12 PM
I almost thought that was a separate, additional bust finchaser, wasn't it?
Here is the original thread you authored a while ago talking about commercial waste. You were one of the first guys here to bring this up. I added to it with the new report on the 10 tons and will post this link in case anyone wants to read. This is abominable.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5621-Commercial-waste

Could be I heard the total for all incidents was 10 tons. This was told to me this afternoon by a charter boat captain in Nj. He got the info from a charter boat Captain down there.