Poaching records - merged with other thread 2-17-10
I started this thread because there seems to be no shame anymore when people are caught poaching. It's no big deal, just part of doing business, no guilt. :don't know why:
Instead of separating different threads out for each state, let's realiize that poaching occurs in all states, and poaching of striped bass occurs in all EEZ coastal areas, not just in NC and VA.
The ASMFC posts records every year of people caught poaching. Feel free to locate those public records from the meetings and post them in this thread. Thanks people.
NJCOA records, 2009 Highlights
Sent in by OGB, thanks!
Marine Region
*On 9/14/09 COs Scott and Swift conducted an evening patrol in Perth Amboy, Belmar, Avon and Point Pleasant Beach. The result of the patrol netted six summonses for possession of 15 undersized tautog, one summons for undersized crabs and a summons for an undersized striped bass.
*While responding to the seemingly endless complaints in Barnegat Light, on 9/26/09 CO Swift set up a surveillance along a path used by illegal fishermen and their accomplices. CO Swift observed a female carrying a backpack walking to a vehicle. CO Swift then observed two male fishermen walking up the path approximately 100 yards behind the female. He inspected the fishermen who possessed one legal tautog. When questioned by CO Swift, the fishermen initially denied knowing the woman with the backpack. CO Swift obtained the backpack which contained 7 undersized tautog. As CO Swift went back to his vehicle to write a summons, a local resident alerted him that the woman made several trips back and forth to the vehicle during the day. CO Swift went back to the subject’s vehicle and found an additional 9 undersized tautog. All three individuals were issued summons for possession of undersized tautog, possession of over limit tautog and interference.
*On 9/25/09 Lt. Fresco and CO Swift set up a surveillance on the Point Pleasant canal in reference to many ongoing complaints. One individual was observed running fish back to a vehicle and was apprehended with four undersized tautog and one summer flounder out of season. Another individual was also apprehended for running fish back to their vehicle with undersized scup and tautog. Later that day the officers met up with CO Dravis to conduct an inspection of the FV Paramount in Brielle. An individual fishing on that vessel contacted CO Dravis in reference to violations by patrons as well as their descriptions. Two individuals were apprehended with 27 undersized black sea bass.
*On 09/25/09 CO Jones was watching a fisherman on a jetty in Deal. The fisherman eventually packed up his gear and started to come off the jetty. At this time another fisherman arrived and started to walk onto the jetty. The original fisherman gave the new fisherman a wide berth and hid his bucket on the side opposite this fisherman's view so the new fisherman could not see into the bucket. CO Jones watched the fisherman walk onto the beach and then proceed up the beach passing the normal access location and go to a more remote access location further up. CO Jones arrived at the second access site and climbed out of his patrol vehicle. When the fisherman, who was now climbing stairs towards the parking lot, saw CO Jones standing at the top of the access, he quickly turned around, ran down a flight of stairs, and threw the bucket over the railing and into the weeds. CO Jones advised the individual to retrieve the bucket. At this time the fluke season had been closed for 21 days. CO Jones inspected the contents of the bucket and found five fluke. The fisherman was issued a summons for having five fluke during closed season.
*On 09/26/09 CO Jones walked the Keansburg Pier inspecting fisherman as he went. He encountered a father and teenage son who were attempting to leave. Both men walked past CO Jones as he tried to inspect them. CO Jones now had to get in front of both fisherman and stop them so he could conduct the inspection. The father kept his teenage son on the far side of him away from CO Jones. The father then showed CO Jones an empty bucket and said "no fish". The men then tried to walk away. CO Jones again got in front of both men and asked to see the contents of the soft-bodied cooler which the teenage son had strapped across his shoulder. The teenage son said "its' only drinks". CO Jones had the teenage son remove the top drink and plastic bag. Underneath the plastic bag CO Jones observed scup. Upon inspection CO Jones found the soft-bodied cooler held 40 porgies of which 39 were short.The father took responsibility for all the fish and the appropriate summonses were issued.
*On 10/01/09 CO Jones conducted surveillance of a fisherman fishing along the Arthur Kill in Perth Amboy. CO Jones observed the individual catch two porgies before the fisherman packed up his gear to leave. CO Jones arrived at the parking location as the fisherman was approaching his vehicle. Upon seeing CO Jones the fisherman walked to the passenger side of his vehicle and threw his bag of fish under the vehicle. CO Jones had the fisherman retrieve his bag of fish and upon inspection found that the bag contained 5 bluefish, and 37 porgies (scup). All 37 porgies were short. The appropriate summonses were issued.
*On 10/5/09 COs Soell and Swift set up surveillance on exits used by fishermen fishing on the Barnegat Light jetty. CO Swift observed two individuals with fishing equipment dragging a cooler to their vehicle. CO Swift inspected the cooler and it container 17 undersized tautog. Summonses were issued to both individuals for possession of undersized and over limit tautog. Meanwhile, CO Soell received a call from a local resident on another exit that a male and female were returning to their vehicle. The resident observed the female carry two buckets to their vehicle during the course of the day. The COs stopped the vehicle as they were leaving the area. When asked if they had caught any fish, the individuals showed the officers two buckets containing approximately 30 bergalls. CO Swift spotted a backpack in the vehicle and asked to inspect it. The backpack contained 10 undersized tautog. The male admitted to catching all of the fish and received a summonses for possession of 10 undersized tautog and 9 over bag limit.
That same evening, CO Swift observed a female walk to a vehicle with a backpack. When she returned to the path the backpack appeared empty. Approximately fifteen minutes later a male carrying a backpack and no apparent fishing equipment, returned to the same vehicle and proceeded to leave the area in his vehicle. The COs followed the vehicle which then stopped at a gas station. The COs questioned the male if he had been fishing and he replied that he did. When asked if he possessed any fish he stated, “no”. CO Soell asked if he had a cooler and permission to inspect it, to which the male consented. The cooler contained 40 tautog which were hidden under a jacket inside the cooler. The backpack he was observed carrying contained another 9 tautog. Out of a total of 49 tautog, 30 were undersized. The male was issued summonses for possessing 48 tautog over the limit and 30 undersized tautog. It turns out that all of these fish were caught utilizing hand lines. As a side note, the woman originally observed going to the vehicle was apparently left behind by the male and was observed by COs walking down the main roadway on Long Beach Island. Over the course of that patrol, 84 illegal tautog were seized.
*The National Marine Fisheries Service made a closure of the black sea bass recreational harvest season to federally permitted party and charter vessels, effective October 5th . On October 4th, prior to the federal recreational black sea bass season closure, CO Snellbaker organized a boarding of the charter vessel Capt Collet in Atlantic City. At 1600 hrs, CO Snellbaker, CO Nicklow and Lt. Canale boarded the vessel as they returned to the dock on Maryland Ave. The Conservation Officers encountered 15 patrons from Maryland and Washington, DC. When the inspection was complete, Officers, Snellbaker, Nicklow and Lt. Canale documented a total of 613 undersize black sea bass, 404 black sea bass possessed over the daily bag limit of 25 fish per person, 5 undersize scup, and 5 undersize fluke which were also possessed during the closed season for the charter. Although individual totals varied, violations per patron averaged 40 undersized fish and 26 fish over the limit. Officers issued a total of 32 summonses to the patrons of the CV Capt Collet for their violations. All of the seized fish were donated to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission.
*CO Petruccelli, assisted by NMFS Special Agent Jason Couse, apprehended the F/V Sonja H with several violations of New Jersey’s Commercial fishing regulations. On the evening of September 23, CO Petruccelli observed FV Sonja H enter its dock area in Cape May Harbor. While observing the vessel from an adjacent dock, CO Petruccelli was seen by the owner of H&H Fisheries LLC, Blair Hansen.
H&H Fisheries is the documented owner of the FV Sonja H. Mr. Hansen was able to warn the captain of the vessel, Jasen Hansen, about CO Petruccelli’s presence. Jasen Hansen immediately dumped illegal black sea bass and tautog overboard into the harbor. CO Petruccelli arrived to find black sea bass and tautog from the FV Sonja H floating in the water. With the assistance of the vessel captain, Jasen Hansen, CO Petruccelli retrieved most of the discarded fish. CO Petruccelli documented that the FV Sonja H landed 70lb of black sea bass during the closed commercial season, 35lb of tautog during the closed commercial tautog season, 17 undersize lobsters and the possession of 2 egg bearing lobsters. Additionally, a federal violation for failing to complete a Fishing Vessel Trip Report and a State violation for interference for the attempt to discard the illegal fish were documented. CO Petruccelli issued 9 summonses: four to the Vessel owner and five to the captain. Federal Charges for the logbook violation are pending.
A full list of all activities/violations including hunting/game law infractions can be found here:
http://njcoa.blogspot.com/
NJCOA records, 2009 highlights
Some more:
Marine Region
*CO Swift recently settled a case in Highlands Borough Court stemming from fillet permit violations observed by undercover officers on the party FV Elaine B II on 7/31/09. The mate and captain pleaded guilty and paid a total of $600.00 in penalties plus costs. The vessel also had its fillet permit suspended for a period of 60 days.
*CO Scott also settled a case in Middletown Township Court involving a commercial conch pot fisherman. The individual pleaded guilty to this second violation for placing of conch pots in a marked or charted channel. He paid a penalty of $750.00 plus costs.
*On 11/7/09, CO Soell settled a case in Barnegat Light Municipal Court involving an individual who was apprehended with 48 tautog over limit and 30 undersized tautog. This individual pleaded guilty and was assessed a penalty of $2340.00 plus court costs.
*On 11/15/09 District 7 COs conducted a plain-clothes operation at Barnegat Light SP jetty in response to complaints from local citizens of unlawful activity. The officers posing as fishermen, observed several instances in which fishermen deliberately attempted to conceal their illegal catches and avoid detection. Groups of fishermen would send out illegal fish with individuals in backpacks with no fishing equipment, while the rest of the group brought out legal fish and all the equipment. The carriers of the illegal catch would walk out to side streets along the beach to be later picked up by their counterparts or go to separate vehicles. A total of 15 individuals were apprehended by the officers with a total of 23 summonses issued. Summonses issued included: 2 summonses for possession of a total of 23 winter flounder out of season; 8 summonses for possession of a total of 23 tautog, over bag limit; 4 summonses for possession of a total of 10 undersized tautog; and 9 summonses for interfering with the duties of a CO.
*On 11/22/09 COs Scott and Swift observed a fisherman returning to the Neptune City ramp. They recognized this individual as a habitual marine fish violator who is currently awaiting trial on another case involving 47 summer flounder out of season. An inspection of the vessel revealed 6 undersized striped bass. Summonses were issued for 6 short striped bass and 2 over limit.
*CO Scott later inspected the charter fishing vessel, Right of Way II that just returned to the Belmar Municipal Marina in the Shark River, from a tautog fishing trip. The inspection was uneventful. A short time later, CO Swift while driving through the Belmar Marina parking lot, observed a well-dressed individual carrying a bag of three, large tautog. When questioned by CO Swift, this individual claimed he bought the fish from the Right of Way II. CO Swift took the individual back to the vessel to point out the seller, who turned out to be one of the patrons. A summons was issued to the patron for sale of tautog without a permit. Earlier that day while on boat patrol with USCG Sandy Hook, CO Scott inspected a sport fisherman in possession of 12 tautog, 6 over the daily possession limit. A summons was issued for the overage.
*CO Dravis conducted a dockside inspection of a sport fishing vessel in Brielle on 11/22/09. As he approached this vessel, he observed some of the three occupants scurrying around to fill out striped bass bonus tags. CO Dravis asked what they had caught and one of the fishermen stated they had 8 striped bass. At the time they had not filled out any of the bonus tags. When CO Dravis told them he was going to inspect the vessel’s fish holds, one individual told them they were also in possession of a summer flounder. The holds contained 8 striped bass and a 24 inch summer flounder. A summons was issued to the captain for not filling out the bonus tags and possession of summer flounder during the closed season.