rwilhelm
10-14-2003, 09:51 AM
This article proves they need to be tougher on the fines/punishiment or this will keep happening. This makes me nervous about the future of striped bass.
Stripers need to be a Gamefish
Fishing Report Posted 10/13/03
Capt. Jim White
Stripers need to be a Gamefish
In a plea barginning argeement between three local commercial fishing companies and the federal government the companies agreed to apologize to the fishing public, I assume, and ran an ad in the Providence Journal to that effect. The ad was a very small 3X5 piece and was easily missed by many as I spoke with a lot of anglers who did not see or notice it at all. I do know that if that had been me or any other recreational fisherman he would have lost his boat, motor, gear, trailer, truck, fined and in likelihood done some jail time.
There was an incident a few years back where a recreational angler got super lucky and had school bluefin tuna come close enough to shore to get a cast off to them. He landed two fish around 20 or 30 pounds. When he carried them off of the peninsula he was fishing on a game warden stopped him and asked him for his federal fisheries permit. The angler answered, I had no idea I needed one, as I don’t fish from a boat and never fish for tuna. These just happened to swim by close enough to catch and he took advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity to catch and fight a tuna fish. He was told that was his problem and promptly arrested. He pleaded not guilty and his fine was posted at $75,000 for an unemployed fishermen. When you compare that incident to this one it almost makes you sick. Talk about a double standard.
The three companies admitted that they illegally trafficked and falsely labeled striped bass, which is a conspiracy in accordance with the federal Lacey Act. That is according to the US Code and the U.S. Attorney’s office in Rhode Island. The fish were being shipped to Canada, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
I have read cases of citizens who have violated the federal Lacey Act which makes it a crime to transport or sell fish and game across state lines or be transported to another country. They were given extremely heavy fines, some even had jail sentences suspended because of their violations. What happened to these commercial fishing companies is a travesty of justice in the marine world.
Their fine of $75,000 is a drop in the bucket for one thing and donating $56,907 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a slap in the face. They have been getting caught up and down the coast for decades. Companies and individuals alike. Until the price is taken off of their heads, this sort of behavior is going to continue.
Two years ago one individual was caught in New Jersey with over 100,000 pounds of illegal striped bass. He was arrested and taken to court. He was fined $10,000, which, to a lot of people is a lot of money. When asked how he felt about his fine and conviction he sarcastically answered the reporter by saying, “No problem at all. I’ll make that back tomorrow in no time. I already had it in my pocket. I consider it the price of doing business.” Unquote. The only way we will ever stop this amazing mentality is to make it illegal to sell any striped bass unless it has been farmed raised and it can be proven. Until then our fishery and the stock of wild striped bass is in dire trouble as commercially favorable appointees sit on almost every panel and committee that there is and the votes usually go in their favor.
There is a proposal right now on the table to re-open the EEZ-Zone in federal waters. That is an area three miles out in federal waters. Its policing would fall under the jurisdiction of the US Coast Guard. They have about as much chance of controlling illegal striped bass fishing as we have of putting a man on Mars next week. Their hands are full with drug trafficking, terrorism and illegal aliens. They don’t have enough boats, manpower or money to take on that job as well.
There is also a movement afoot to re-open the Hudson River, which came out of nowhere recently. If you have any common sense at all you should easily see where all this is leading to. The destruction of our striped bass fishery once again like in the late 1970’s and early 80’s. They have only one thing on their mind, catch, ice down, box and sell as many striped bass as they possibly can. Legally or illegal, it makes no difference as long as the green American dollar is the end result. If that hurts the entire population of recreational users so be it. Or more likely, who cares.
The clock has returned to the late 1970’s. A decreasing population of school bass, an increasing size in the striper stock, an ever-growing population of bluefish, and illegal commercial activities everywhere you look. The Carolina’s, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and now Rhode Island.
Let’s see I wonder how many 20 to 25 footers will fit in Johnson’s Pond? And does anyone know how big the sunfish and yellow perch get in there?
Stripers need to be a Gamefish
Fishing Report Posted 10/13/03
Capt. Jim White
Stripers need to be a Gamefish
In a plea barginning argeement between three local commercial fishing companies and the federal government the companies agreed to apologize to the fishing public, I assume, and ran an ad in the Providence Journal to that effect. The ad was a very small 3X5 piece and was easily missed by many as I spoke with a lot of anglers who did not see or notice it at all. I do know that if that had been me or any other recreational fisherman he would have lost his boat, motor, gear, trailer, truck, fined and in likelihood done some jail time.
There was an incident a few years back where a recreational angler got super lucky and had school bluefin tuna come close enough to shore to get a cast off to them. He landed two fish around 20 or 30 pounds. When he carried them off of the peninsula he was fishing on a game warden stopped him and asked him for his federal fisheries permit. The angler answered, I had no idea I needed one, as I don’t fish from a boat and never fish for tuna. These just happened to swim by close enough to catch and he took advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity to catch and fight a tuna fish. He was told that was his problem and promptly arrested. He pleaded not guilty and his fine was posted at $75,000 for an unemployed fishermen. When you compare that incident to this one it almost makes you sick. Talk about a double standard.
The three companies admitted that they illegally trafficked and falsely labeled striped bass, which is a conspiracy in accordance with the federal Lacey Act. That is according to the US Code and the U.S. Attorney’s office in Rhode Island. The fish were being shipped to Canada, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
I have read cases of citizens who have violated the federal Lacey Act which makes it a crime to transport or sell fish and game across state lines or be transported to another country. They were given extremely heavy fines, some even had jail sentences suspended because of their violations. What happened to these commercial fishing companies is a travesty of justice in the marine world.
Their fine of $75,000 is a drop in the bucket for one thing and donating $56,907 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a slap in the face. They have been getting caught up and down the coast for decades. Companies and individuals alike. Until the price is taken off of their heads, this sort of behavior is going to continue.
Two years ago one individual was caught in New Jersey with over 100,000 pounds of illegal striped bass. He was arrested and taken to court. He was fined $10,000, which, to a lot of people is a lot of money. When asked how he felt about his fine and conviction he sarcastically answered the reporter by saying, “No problem at all. I’ll make that back tomorrow in no time. I already had it in my pocket. I consider it the price of doing business.” Unquote. The only way we will ever stop this amazing mentality is to make it illegal to sell any striped bass unless it has been farmed raised and it can be proven. Until then our fishery and the stock of wild striped bass is in dire trouble as commercially favorable appointees sit on almost every panel and committee that there is and the votes usually go in their favor.
There is a proposal right now on the table to re-open the EEZ-Zone in federal waters. That is an area three miles out in federal waters. Its policing would fall under the jurisdiction of the US Coast Guard. They have about as much chance of controlling illegal striped bass fishing as we have of putting a man on Mars next week. Their hands are full with drug trafficking, terrorism and illegal aliens. They don’t have enough boats, manpower or money to take on that job as well.
There is also a movement afoot to re-open the Hudson River, which came out of nowhere recently. If you have any common sense at all you should easily see where all this is leading to. The destruction of our striped bass fishery once again like in the late 1970’s and early 80’s. They have only one thing on their mind, catch, ice down, box and sell as many striped bass as they possibly can. Legally or illegal, it makes no difference as long as the green American dollar is the end result. If that hurts the entire population of recreational users so be it. Or more likely, who cares.
The clock has returned to the late 1970’s. A decreasing population of school bass, an increasing size in the striper stock, an ever-growing population of bluefish, and illegal commercial activities everywhere you look. The Carolina’s, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and now Rhode Island.
Let’s see I wonder how many 20 to 25 footers will fit in Johnson’s Pond? And does anyone know how big the sunfish and yellow perch get in there?