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DEC violators and poachers
Didn't see a poacher thread in this forum so I thought I would start one. DS if there is already another one feel free to merge.
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Fresh Fish! (Kings County)
On 02 October 2008, ECO Kevin Thomas was in Sheepshead Bay in plain clothes doing surveillance when he
noticed the party boat
Sea Wolf moored up with a large crowd around it. He went over to investigate and found
a crew member with 33 out-of-season fluke and a bucket full of porgies laid out on the deck and offering them
for sale. He contacted ECO Jennifer Okonuk, who arrived to issue summonses and document the evidence. The
crew member admitted to selling the fish without the proper license. He received tickets for undersized and outof-
season marine species as well as selling fish from a party boat.
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Tipp complaint system
http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/393.html
If You Witness a Violation of Environmental Conservation Law
Reports from citizens are vital for effective enforcement of New York's environmental laws. There are more than 300 Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) and Investigators in New York State, each patrolling an average of 400 square miles. You can help by reporting every Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) violation that you observe or suspect.
The department provides different ways for citizens to report to DEC. To ensure a prompt response to your complaint, please be prepared to provide detailed information when reporting a violation of law.
Complaints may be filed in several ways:
- TIPP DEC is a 24-hour telephone hotline that is also referred to as Turn in Poachers and Polluters. It is answered by live dispatchers. The TIPP phone number is 1-800-TIPP DEC (1-800-847-7332). Callers may request to file a complaint anonymously.
- Citizens can also report a violation online.
- Contact the ECO responsible for your area. ECOs work out of their homes and patrol in and around the county they live in. Links to the regional ECO rosters are listed in the right hand column of this page. When ECOs are on patrol you may contact them through the Division of Law Enforcement dispatch at 1-877-457-5680.
TIPP Complaint System Works Again (Suffolk County)
- On 09 October 2008, ECO's Dustin Oliver, and Joshua Ver Hague patrolled to East Beach in the Town of
Brookhaven, in response to a TIPP complaint of a fishermen keeping undersized fish. As officers arrived, they
observed four fishermen matching the descriptions from the complaint. Upon investigation, the ECO's
discovered several short black fish, and one out-of-season, short porgy. Three of the individuals were issued
ECATs for the violations.
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Charter Boat Sneak Attack (Kings County)
Based on a citizen complaint alleging poaching and the active facilitation of illegal activity by crew members on
the Sheepshead Bay-based party boat, Captain Dave,
Lt. Fitzpatrick organized a detail. On 11 October 2008,
Region 1 ECO's went undercover on a night fishing trip to make observations of what transpired while the boat
was underway. An ECO, in plainclothes, acted as a lookout on the street and let the uniformed officers,
standing by in the vicinity, know when the boat was approaching the dock. Around midnight, the ECO gave the
signal that the boat was approaching. Lt. Fitzpatrick and Region 2 ECO's proceeded to conduct a surprise full
inspection of the boat as soon as it docked. The detail went off without a hitch, with tickets being issued to the
captain, crew, and passengers of the vessel for violations including possession of undersized striped bass,
mutilating striped bass so that the size could not be determined, and filleting in violation of permit conditions.
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This is my favorite so far.
Not A Healthy Idea (Nassau County)
ECO's Joseph Munn, Aaron Gordon and MEU ECO Sean Reilly were on boat patrol on 12 October 2008,
patrolling the Long Island Sound. As they approached a boat off of Lloyd Point, they noticed the fishermen on
board had a striped bass which they were about to throw back in the water. The fishermen were asked if they
had any other fish; they replied that they had some bluefish. Officer Gordon boarded the boat and found five
short striped bass in a large cooler in the bow of the boat.
When the illegal fish were found, one of the menspoke up and said, "You got us.? The officers asked the fishermen why they had the fish when they knew they
were too short. They both replied, "Well, our doctors both told us to have more fish in our diets.? ECATs were
issued to each of the men for possession of undersize and over-the-limit striped bass.
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I found some
http://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/comm.../0906_MLER.pdf
Marilyn Jean (Kings County)
MEU ECO Jamie Powers received an anonymous tip that the charter boat ?Marilyn Jean? has been
keeping undersized black sea bass. On 11 June 2009, at approximately 1500 hours, ECO Powers and
Region 2 ECO's George Scheer, Gregory Maneeley and Matthew Krug boarded the ?Marilyn Jean? as it
pulled into its slip in Sheepshead Bay.
Prior to the ECO's boarding the boat, the vessel's captain had been
tipped off that the officers were waiting back at the dock for his boat to come into Sheepshead Bay. After
a thorough inspection of the vessel, the ECO's still issued eight tickets to the captain, the corporation and
one fisherman on board. The violations included out of season porgy, 31 undersized black sea bass, over
the limit sea bass and dumping upon signal to stop.
http://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/comm.../0812_MLER.pdf
Blackfish And Drugs Seized In Charter Fishing Vessel Bust (Kings County)
On 04 December 2008, Lt. John Fitzpatrick received a tip that the Marilyn Jean, a charter fishing vessel
that runs out of Futura Marina in Sheepshead Bay, had been out fishing and that the captain brought
back a large, illegal quantity - many totes full - of blackfish. The captain had just departed the marina
with the fish in the back of his truck. Lt. Fitzpatrick dispatched MEU ECO Kevin Thomas and Region
2 ECO Matthew Nichols to the location, but the vehicle had already driven away and the officers could
not locate the vehicle.
The next day, on December 5th, Lt. Fitzpatrick received a new tip that the
Marilyn Jean was out fishing again. Lt. Fitzpatrick organized a surveillance detail. MEU ECO's Jamie
Powers and Thomas were already in place conducting surveillance of the marina, as they had received
their own information about blackfish poaching taking place at the location and they stayed put. Lt.
Fitzpatrick and Brooklyn ECO's Matthew Baker, Matthew Nichols and Neil Stevens, along with ECO
Alan Brassard from Staten Island, mobilized and took up positions in the area, ready to tail whichever
vehicle(s) departed the marina with an illegal catch.
Officers Powers and Thomas saw the Marilyn Jean
return to dock and then watched as individuals from the boat carried a 55-gallon drum up to a vehicle.
The individuals filled the tank with water, a sign that live blackfish were going to be transported. Once
the vehicle left the marina, with its license plate covered to facilitate not getting caught, ECO Nichols and
ECO Baker began to tail it. Fearing that the suspects knew they were being followed, the officers
initiated a traffic stop. Lt. Fitzpatrick assisted with the stop and questioned the occupants.
They admitted that they had about 30 blackfish (actually 37 fish), but no DEC licenses and that they knew
that the recreational limit is four fish per person. The driver admitted that they were going to go to
Chinatown in Manhattan and sell the fish to markets that were advertising blackfish in their windows.
The officers escorted the vehicle back to the marina to document the evidence.
In the meantime, the other officers responded to the marina. ECO Thomas went down to the Marilyn
Jean, where the captain and another individual were present. The individuals denied that there was any
fish around, but then ECO Thomas found a bag of 18 blackfish hanging from the dock in a mesh bag.
When questioned, the suspects claimed that they had no knowledge of the fish. Upon further
questioning, however, the captain of the vessel admitted that the fish were, in fact, his. As the officers
continued their investigation, ECO Powers noticed the smell of marijuana coming from inside the truck of
another one of the passengers on the boat. ECO Thomas noticed marijuana residue on the center console
of the truck. Based on these observations, Officers Powers and Thomas, along with the other ECO's,
searched the vehicle thoroughly, turning up more marijuana, a Motrin bottle containing unidentified
prescription drugs, and $2,400 cash in an envelope, hidden underneath the floor mat. Lt. Fitzpatrick
interviewed the subject. Ultimately, three individuals were arrested on misdemeanor-level illegal
commercialization of fish charges. The fourth individual was placed in custody and brought to the
precinct for further investigation. At the precinct, Brooklyn South Task Force Detectives assisted the
ENCON officers in determining what drugs the subject had.
It was determined that, in addition to the marijuana, he was in possession of the controlled substance, oxycontin. He was charged with multiple
penal law crimes for the marijuana and prescription drugs. In all, the officers seized 163 pounds of
blackfish, worth approximately $1,630. In addition, the fisherman?s $2,400 cash was seized and secured
as arrest evidence. This case is being prosecuted by the Environmental Crimes Unit of the Brooklyn
District Attorney?s Office.
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A-fish-tale-that-ends-in-jail
A guy who sold 125 tons of fluke and only got 4 months sentence. Dresner you should be banned from the business forever.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/her...ail-2014-10-23
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Agreed. The 4 months is a slap on the wrist. Only when we have judges who understand the gravity of this will things ever get better.
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A recent bust.
DEC Environmental Conservation Officers Jeanette Bastedo and Waldemar Auguscinski donated 99 seized striped bass (820 lbs of fish) to The Bowery Mission Soup Kitchen today in Manhattan. The fish were seized early this morning from three companies at the Fulton Fish Market. Charges for possession and sale of undersized striped bass are pending against the companies.
https://www.facebook.com/NYSDEC
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Although they didn't poach these eels I still thought this was worth mentioning. 1 million dollars worth of eels is quite a haul.
https://news.google.com/news/ampview...%2F#pt0-995359
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Nabbed guys with these short stripers in Croton the other day. Saw it on the net.
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What a MFer. Finchaser Sportfishing charters out of montauk.
http://mobile.easthamptonstar.com/Ne...s-Dumping-Fish
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