Up came rockfish, caught in the unforgiving nylon monofilament net - cut, scraped and bloody. A few fish flapped their tail fins, but most were dead.

"See how stretched he is? He's still alive, but see how pale and yellow he is?" Rafter said. "Those last two didn't smell so good." And of another rockfish: "See the color? He doesn't have that nice silver and black look."

Rafter and Windemuth pulled for two hours, painstakingly releasing 27 fish - about 300 pounds worth - from the net's grip with a box cutter. The poacher lost a net worth about $2,500, Windemuth said.

"People ask me, 'Why couldn't you just throw the fish back?' It's not like they're in a holding pen [when they're in the net]. The fish are wrapped up in there. If we let them go, they'll die from their injuries, maybe infect other fish."

Rockfish pulled from illegal nets in the bay and its tributaries are most often sold to wholesale seafood markets. Sometimes they are given to charities such as soup kitchens and churches that raise money with fish fries.

After the sun slid past the horizon, Windemuth slumped against the boat's cabin, sweating despite the chill.

Rafter, muscles tired, flipped open his cellphone as the boat sped to the shore.
"I have 20 beautiful rockfish," he said to a person who notifies charities. "I usually donate them to a charity in Grasonville, but I don't have their number in this phone. Do you know someone else I can give them to?"