More commercial Wrong doings

[finchaser]

they were allowed 300 pounds of fish they stayed out 10 days and returned with almost 4000#. it will be tried court by a judge who has no idea about marine law and most likely thrown out




IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 4, 2011

Contact: Lawrence Hajna (609) 984-1795
Lawrence Ragonese (609) 292-2994

TRAWLER OWNER, CAPTAIN CHARGED WITH ILLEGAL HARVESTING OF SUMMER FLOUNDER AND BLACK SEA BASS

(11/P15) TRENTON * The Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Fish and Wildlife has issued summonses charging the owner and the captain of a commercial fishing trawler with illegally harvesting thousands of pounds of flounder and black sea bass.

The trawler Atlantic Queen harvested nearly 2,400 pounds of summer flounder and more than 1,200 pounds of black sea bass in excess of state limits.

"Our coastal waters support rich and diverse commercial fisheries, but it is imperative that everyone * from captains and owners of ocean-going commercial vessels to the individual angler casting a line from the beach or a pleasure boat * obey the regulations that are in place to protect these resources," said Division of Fish and Wildlife Capt. Mark Chicketano. "This was a significant violation of those regulations."

The owner of the trawler is Alda Gentile, 53, of Speonk, N.Y. The captain is William Jeffery Stanley, 44, of Brick.

Gentile and Stanley were each charged with landing summer flounder and sea bass without valid permits, harvesting both species in excess of 10 percent of total weight of species brought to the dock, failing to notify the Division of Fish and Wildlife that it was fishing for these species, and harvesting summer flounder during a closed season.

The owner and captain could face penalties up to $21,000 each.

Conservation officers boarded the Atlantic Queen shortly after midnight on Jan. 25 after noticing that it appeared to be overloaded with summer flounder and black sea bass. The vessel had just docked in Point Pleasant Beach after returning from a 10-day fishing trip.

Under the direction of the officers, the crew unloaded the fish onto the dock, where they were weighed. Although the vessel did have appropriate federal fisheries permits for these species, it did not have the appropriate state licenses for either of the species landed. The permits are necessary to land the fish in New Jersey.

As a result, the vessel was only legally permitted to land a maximum of 200 pounds of summer flounder. It had actually landed 2,397 pounds of this fish. The vessel was also only legally permitted to harvest 100 pounds of black sea bass. It had harvested 1,208 pounds of this fish.

Regulations allow for a small portion of these two fish species to be brought to the dock. This averts wasting of fish that are incidentally caught in the harvesting of other species.

The Division of Fish and Wildlife sold the fish to a licensed dealer so they would not go to waste and is holding the proceeds of the sale pending adjudication of the case in Point Pleasant Borough Municipal Court.

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[clamchucker]

[The owner and captain could face penalties up to $21,000 each.

The sad part of it is that they will never be charged the maximum penalty. Good reporting finchaser.

[williehookem]

I agree. The regular judges know nothing about the damage these guys have done.

[surfstix1963]

The boat should be destroyed and made into a reef the capt. and crew should be penalized to the fullest extent of the law.We all know this won't happen because of political special interest payoff who you need to and get out of jail free.

[gjb1969]

THIS CRAP SUCKS OVER AND OVER AGAIN THEY GET GREEDY AND F THINGS UP AND WE ALL PAY THE PRICE

[vpass]

Everyone should email the judge the law, and history of the abuse that the striper populations endured.

I heard that a net was found just recently with 10 tons of bass in it in NC.

[DarkSkies]

The sad part of it is that they will never be charged the maximum penalty. Good reporting finchaser.

Thanks for posting the story, Fin. You guys are right on this one. We need to get the jurisdiction changed to judges with maritime experience, or maritime courts. This has been suggested many times by Fin and others, but will not happen unless we keep applying pressure. Recreational fishermen apathy is a hindrance to progress in this area. If reading this gets you mad, contact your nearest local fisherman PAC (RFA, etc) and ask them if they are doing anything about it. If not, ask them why, and if they are not the ones to contact about this, who is?

Changes won't happen by just talking about this on the internet.,
Get angry, and get busy.
Feel free to post any results or findings here.
Thanks for taking the time to consider this, people. The actions you do or do not take today will affect your fishing tomorrow.

[hookset]

Where is it going to end. I am losing faith in the numbers claimed by commercial fishermen. As far as I am concerned they are all liars. They have lost all credibility with me. They are scum, no better than the drug dealers on the street.

[rip316]

As long as they keep crying the blues always saying that this is how they feed their families. Fishing is a business and a big money maker. The comms will always have it better than the recs. The gov't does not care about the recs because we do not bring money to them.