Our representatives are fighting hard for more reasonable sea bass regulations and this #^&#^&#^&#^& bag of a captain is out blatantly ignoring the rules. He needs to loose his license and be run out of the business. He is the problem.

I hope and pray he isn't related to RFA Lawyer with he same last name.

The fact that some people have posted this charter captain has no responsibility for what was caught on his vessel is yet another statement on how #^&#^&#^&#^&ed up the American mentality has become. This is why our country is going to hell in a hand basket.

No it won't wind up in court as the Captain wasn't cited for anything. Eveidently the NJ DEP knows the law better than you do! :smash:

And for all those that asked, no I do not allow poaching on my boat, but that is a personal decision to go above and beyond what I am required to do by law.

On a party boat what could the captain do? He can't force the offenders to release the fish. I'd wager that the fish were destined to be sold and weren't cleaned by the crew. We don't know where the "tip" came from, it could have been from the Captain for all we know.

So when 'M____' or one of the other boats out of Galilee got popped for taking short blackfish, the fares got fined and not the Captain?

that's not what I heard.

Again. 1 or 2 fish, no big deal.
108 fish in one cooler?!? the Captain/Mate knew and should have called DEP himself.

How is this even up for debate? A Captain should not ignore customers breaking the law aboard his boat. Fail.

what would you have him do, forcibly remove the fish from the customers coolers? This is a party boat, he can't threaten to cut the trip short and return to port, like I would do for a private charter.

You're killing me here Mike. I feel like a broken record.
If he knew this was going on, do you think he should have called DEP himself and had them waiting at the dock?

I think that is the least they could have done. Otherwise, to me, it looks like they turned a blind eye and probably got a nice tip from those guys.

for what it's worth, running the tour boat, if 1 passenger got out of hand (i.e. #^&#^&#^&#^&faced drunk, or the time we had a kid rip bottles of booze right off the bar during a charter), I went back to the dock early. They had to explain firsthand to the other people (and in the kids case, his parents and coach) why the trip was over so suddenly at the captains discretion!

Maybe he could have said....You cannot keep illegal fish on this boat. Stop catching them , throw what you have overboard or the DEP will be waiting at the dock for you when we return.

Gee , that's pretty simple isn't it?

If over 2/3rds the catch is an out of season species, hard to say the capt. wasn't targeting them.

The DEP was not on his boat under cover cause this was his first time!!
This boat has been doing it for a while I am sure, or why else they watching him??

You really need to reread R&R on having a ticket. The captain IS responsible for him, his crew, and his fares observing all applicable laws. Thats by the letter, not by "what you feel like it means".

Bryan,
They were 60 miles offshore, and it was only a handful of the passengers keeping the fish. He would have had to refund all the other passengers their fare, what would you do if you were in that position? Take a couple of thousand dollar loss of keep fishing? How do we know that it wasn't him that tipped the DEP?

We don't. And I hope he did, but my gut says this was not the case....

Where did you read that it was 2/3 of the catch?

First of all they weren't watching him, they were watching the fares. Secondly, how do you know it wasn't him that tipped the DEP?

You had better read read the R&R, the Captain is responsible for himself and his crew, not for the fares.

Thats right, they were on a self powered boat that searches for fish!

How do you know it was?

DEP and customers heard this boat does not go buy the rules, that's why they were there!
And who allows that rumor to get going??

I am sorry but this Captain is not a inosinate person!

Why do they bother arresting get away drivers. " I didn't know they were gonna rob the bank! "
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Thanks for proving my point, the captain was NOT cited, do you really think they would let him off if he was guilty of something?

why not? happens all the time...

So the poor captain was helpless as the dirtbag poachers ran amok on his vessel.
He turned a blind eye to it as I would bet was his normal MO. Moral coward, most Captains I know have enough clank in their balls not to allow that.
Stop defending your binky. He may not be charged but he was dead wrong.

So again I'll ask, what do you think he should have done? Forcibly remove the fish from the cooler? Personally I don't even know the man.

And to answer Pat's question, yes he is Tony Bogan's brother (I think, I know they are related)

2400lbs of fish with 819 seabass. I just factored a 2lb average on the seabass, which shouldn't be unreasonable.

I say we all hire Mako's boat and go fishing!! We take what we want he can't say or do crap! I am going to tell all that I know to call on his boat, he great!! He no cares what you take!!
Hey I know lets go on SB Fluke trip with him soon!! Be a great NO FUSS TRIP!!

If sea bass are not the targeted fish, and that's a big if, once you or the crew see a few illegal fish going in the coolers, you ball up and tell them it is not allowed. Or you will pull the hook and go home.

No way said captain had his head so far up his ass he wasn't aware what was going on.

Sometimes it ain't about the "F" ing money. It's about doing the right thing. Not being afraid to be the Man. My God what a timid country we became.