Illegal Rockfish Net Found in Chesapeake Bay Near Tilghman Island
Had More Than 3 Tons of Fish


By Associated Press
May 4 (Washington Post) -- ANNAPOLIS, Md. Authorities say an
illegal rockfish net found off Tilghman Island had more than 3
tons of fish.
Maryland Natural Resources Police said an 80-foot work boat
outfitted with a crane worked for several hours to gather the
nearly mile-long net on Tuesday.
The net was found Sunday by recreational fishermen near a
buoy midway between Tilghman Island and North Beach.
The seizure is the latest in a series in the bay this year.
The commercial rockfish gill net season was shut down Feb. 4
after 10 tons of rockfish were confiscated from illegal nets. The
season eventually was allowed to reopen for its final two days.
Authorities have seized almost 16 tons of illegally caught
rockfish this year. Illegally caught fish are deducted from the
amount commercial fishermen can catch.

dirt bags.

how many stripers does it take to get to 10 tons???

I'm suddenly nauseated!:yak5:

they should take that off next years quota :smash:

Really Sad… I doesn’t seem like these guys have any regard for the quotas or regulations, the only way to cut down on this may be to shut down the commercial gill netting entirely, if they want to keep the commercial fishery switch over to R&R only…

Hopefully someone turns these guys in but I doubt it… it’s hard to believe you could lay a mile of netting and go unnoticed.

how many stripers does it take to get to 10 tons???

1,000 20lb bass or 500 40lb bass
The equivalent to the striper cup total including the non entered fish.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

More than that as they likely average in the low teens...

I'm not defending netting in any way, however, the nets were old. Some boats caught their trolling gear in the net causing them to report it. However, the net was old and it was not determined if the net was illegally placed or if it was lost during a storm or from other events. Only 3 tons in a mile of net unlike the smaller pieces in the spring that held 10 tons. At least there is a little hope. I'll bet from the radio on last sunday that more than 3 tons of 30+ stripers were caught (and kept) from trollers. I was out near that area on sunday and the bay was literally covered up with boats. The charters troll 20-25 ines per boat...

they should take that off next years quota :smash:

They did deduct it from this years commercial quota. That should piss off the honest comms enough that they would turn in anyone they see illegally fishing. That's taking money right out of their pockets.

They did deduct it from this years commercial quota. That should piss off the honest comms enough that they would turn in anyone they see illegally fishing. That's taking money right out of their pockets.

Not just anyone has a 3 mile long gill net. This was a commercial fisherman in pirate mode.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Nebe,

I live here on the Chesapeake. It was 1400 yards of net. That is not 3 miles in my book. There are a lot of nets in the bay (perhaps they should not be here but that is a different discussion on s different forum). However, my guess is that this last one was probably a net lost during a storm and not found until a boat trolling was pinched between two boats and forced to stop. As a result his 15 lures got snagged in the net. The location were he got hung up was pretty inaccessable (right across the bay from me). Not the type of place someone would look for a lost net.

As far as having nets, I have a shrimp net and don't have a commerical license. They are a lot easier to buy than you woudl think...plus you can buy used ones pretty cheap down south. I personnally don't consider the responsible parties "commercial waterman" any more than I consider a poacher an "angler". Both are theives in my book.

how many stripers does it take to get to 10 tons???

1000 20 pounders. A lot.

such a waste of a dwindling resource...

Nebe,

I
As far as having nets, I have a shrimp net and don't have a commerical license. They are a lot easier to buy than you woudl think...plus you can buy used ones pretty cheap down south. I personnally don't consider the responsible parties "commercial waterman" any more than I consider a poacher an "angler". Both are theives in my book.


Yup!

Nets, be they lost or old, are ghost nets....scourge of the sea. Gill nets above a certain size should have a beacon of sorts so they can be located if lost, IMO

Maryland Natural Resources Police said an 80-foot work boat
outfitted with a crane worked for several hours to gather the
nearly mile-long net on Tuesday.
T

Nebe,

I live here on the Chesapeake. It was 1400 yards of net.

My mistake.. I crossed my facts. 3 tones of fish.. but it says the net was almost 1 mile long.... that is HUGE!!

your probably right.. it could be ghost gear.

Wow 16 tons of illegal fish seized, wonder what the number is that the guys who havent been caught.

Nebe,

We are in agreement on much of this. I'd love to get rid of the nets here in Maryland. Stripers have to run the gauntlet to breed and nets (whether legally set or ghost nets, are a big deterrent to getting the numbers back up.

When they tried to discuss the issue this spring we didn't help ourselves as recreational anglers...the associations tried to make a big resource grab instead of working to keep the commerical anglers whole (or at least as whole as could be) or even suggesting that we all should have a reduction.

I know this is the wrong forum to discuss this but I have to agree with Nightfighter about marking them properly so we can find them. I'm sure more will be found this year with teh greater availability of sidescan sonars.

Sad does not properly describe this.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

yes there are some poachers in ct,ri and mass.yes we have people taking shorts.but consider the numbers of killed or harvested fish in virginia ,maryland.look at state virginia site and click on fishing.you'll see charter after charter with 18 fish every trip.thinking alot of pre breeding fish being wiped out.the eez zone 3 miles out no fishing area do you think the coast guard has time to catch these guys or patrol the zone,guess again.:fury:

ANYONE that nets fish should have their nets registered and be required to have a beacon attached for easier location.
If they are allowed to just trash them and just "walk away", they are quity of littering/polluting and could be affecting more than just the bass. Although this may be a stretch, what if that net were to reach the gulf stream and make it up to the Right whale breeding/feeding grounds? Surely that would warrant some interraction by the EPO's?

The owners of these nets need to be held LEGALLY accountable for the fish caught in them. Ghost net or poacher, they need to understand that they can and will be charged accordingly.
Until there is a strict deterrency to this kind of action/event, all that will happen is tons of bass will die needlessly, THAT"S ALL!

Awesome idea ANYONE that nets fish should have their nets registered and be required to have a beacon attached for easier location.
If they are allowed to just trash them and just "walk away", they are quity of littering/polluting and could be affecting more than just the bass. Although this may be a stretch, what if that net were to reach the gulf stream and make it up to the Right whale breeding/feeding grounds? Surely that would warrant some interraction by the EPO's?

The owners of these nets need to be held LEGALLY accountable for the fish caught in them. Ghost net or poacher, they need to understand that they can and will be charged accordingly.
Until there is a strict deterrency to this kind of action/event, all that will happen is tons of bass will die needlessly, THAT"S ALL!
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device