Poacher caught - again!
 

Hot off the presses through RISAA. From Chief Hall, RI DEM:


"We arrested Albert Reeves, DOB 5-3-63, 254 Winthrop St. Rehoboth MA.
Officer John Gingerella and Sgt. Joseph Poccia boarded Reeves as he
landed in Galilee. The officers had information that Reeves was
illegally taking over limits of striped bass and hiding the illegal fish
in a hidden compartment on his boat and selling the fish to dealers in
Massachusetts. When encountered, Reeves was in possession of 8 striped
bass which would be a legal recreational catch due to the fact that
there had been 4 fishermen on the boat. Reeves insisted that he had no
more fish and allowed the officers to search the boat. Officers saw
wires running under the deck which they followed to a concealed switch.
When they threw the switch, a hidden compartment opened hydraulically.
There were ten additional illegal fish in the compartment. Reeves
will be arraigned on 9-1-10 for Exceeding the Limit of Stripped Bass.
Reeves pleaded NOLO in July of 2003 on the same charge and was fined $450.00."

Steven H. Hall
Chief
Division of Law Enforcement
RI Department of Environmental Management

What a loser this Reeves.

Dave

$450 for his last fine... :smash:

Maybe one day the regulatory bodies will get out of bed with the commercial sector (in all avenues of the economy) and actually penalize these people with something other than a slap on the wrist. I'm sure that $450 fine was recouped after a couple additional trips of illegally keeping bass.

First offense, hefty fine.
Second offense, even bigger fine and all fishing related possessions you have are sent off to the auction table.

Absolutely need to stiffen the fines and penalties.

Reeves doesn't have to look far to find out who dimed him out. Someone knew where he was, when he was arriving and that he had a secret 'hide' on his boat.

He got set up like a mo' fo'

wait till he loads boat on his trailer.
then confinscate the whole lot.
one of those would hurt.

real class act......NOT. i hope they throw the book at this clown.

throwing the book would feel like a swedish massage, because the penalty on the books is not that high... its worth the risk for these guys... get caught once a year, pay a fine, thats the cost of doing business....

Couldnt the presence of a specially designed poaching compartment be enough evidence to impose greater fines than for the 10 fish, seeing as it shows a habitual poacher?

This one guy will be replaced by some other scumbag doing the same thing. They need to crack down hard on the places that knowingly buy illegal fish, as well. If there weren't places buying through the back door, there wouldn't be as much of an incentive to poach. Attacking both ends of the problem will be more effective than just trying to stop the poachers.

Mass should revoke his license (for life). IF he has a RI license it should also be revoked. This year RI has issued approximately 250 PEL restricted finfish endorsement licenses - 100 are to non-residents.

Unbelievable.

DZ

Hope the jerk gets what's coming to him.

Well said. If all fish bought and sold are accounted for and count towards a quota, then serious commercial poaching becomes more about commercial fishermen cheating each other than harming the resource.

Better yet, the ASMFC could make a realistic estimate at the numbers of black market fish killed each year, subtract that from either the commercial or both quotas, and manage things from there. That they don't (as best I can tell), and even decline to do so (based on the discussion published in their last technical report) indicates to me that maintaining high user group catch numbers is a greater priority for the ASMFC (and perhaps the majority of fishermen) than resource conservation.

He deserved it. Wonder how long he's been taking advantage of that specially little compartment of his. Secret switch powering a hidden hydraulic trap door? Must have been profiting pretty good on his pouching activities to justify a system like that. What a POS.

a hydraulic hatch? Thats some james bond stuff right there..

sounds kind of funky to me as well... it ould be alot eaiser/more believable to make a "false" bottom on the deck, alot cheaper as well..

Scum,,,, This was obviously premeditated and since the states need $$$.. ...

First offense
$1000 fine
$1000 fine for each fish

Second offense
Loss of License in state and all surrounding states
$5000 fine
$2000 fine for each fish
LOSS of ALL EQUIPMENT

Need big consequences or people will just keep doing it,,,,

All this posting of this and that should happen falls on deaf ears posted on the web. Best bet is to send same to dem etcetc. in reality the fine will once again be less than the profit from the sale of said fish so really nothing resolved....
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True,,, but you have to admit its fun to vent,,,, especially since I catch catch anything noteworthy this year...

If you think that he's the only RI or CT resident, with a Mass commercial license, loading his boat from RI, CT, NY or EEZ waters and bringing them to a Mass market, you're dreaming. He's the tip of a very large iceberg.

Do the math--at $3.50 a pound, a Tues-Thurs commercial limit can be a grand or more, and a $450 fine is well worth the risk.

Now if the fine was $450 per fish......... ;)

And Mass. DMF has acted in the past to forfeit gear, and even boats. But unless they see him coming from out of state or Federal waters, there isn't a damn thing they can do on an open day. Multi-state enforcement is tough. RI isn't in any better shape financially than Mass, probably even worse, and I can imagine that DEM's budget is stretched to the max. They have to patrol where and when they can.

And you can bet your bottom dollar that someone dimed this dude out. He shot his mouth off to the wrong person, or maybe a pissed off Mass. commercial saw him operate the hidey-hole at the dock.

Mike P

don,t limit it to those 3 states . come spend some time in RI waters / & you,ll notice alot of mass anglers /commercial ..fishing RI ,,,,,,,,, short ass run from westport to RI waters .

@ least in RI / you can,t just buy a license .. I think there are 308 total & most of them are [us] senior citizens .

In Mass .ya got the cash , ya get the license .................... I think a couple of years ago .I heard a number around 5000 ................................ if that the case just about every yahoo ..... that gets lucky & catches a 34" or over sells it .
there are some commando striper addicts on this site ..... I hear the stories of the hours . of no sleep , no food , driving miles & miles ...........in quest of Mrs. Cow .
most are young & all by choice .
try keeping up with a real commercial R&R ......... for the guy that is making a living on the water / not expenses ;;
I personally don,t know of any person ......that comes near to the time , effort , danger that these guys put in .
Its not like [[BACK IN THE DAY] .......you caught it >>>>>>>>>> you sold it .all it had to be was 16 " ...........Now ................... with open & close seasons & days of the week ....... you HAVE to go when its open ..no taking that day off cuz its raining & blowin 35 from the NE .
no sundays @ the beach with the family .in mass its a 5 fish limit on Sunday ......but when RI is open ..Sunday is a full day ....................... & friday & Saturday are the days you can,t fish commercially for Fluke or bass .
Its kinda like the deadliest Catch >>>>>> you snooze you loose .;;

been there / done that >>>>> now I pay the price ... no complaining ,.it was a choice I made many years ago .when I did have options :fishin:

How about Yakuza justice.
Every offense just cigar cutter a finger and send him on his way.
That'll learn ya.
R.L. Ermey would be the judge. :ninja:

Looks like Big Al will be using the money he made raping the bunker in Ct to help pay for his fines and lawyer

Yup lets all feel bad for Reeves being set up. Like feeling bad for a dope dealer. A criminal is a criminal.they should take his boat an gear too. Like they do to lobster poachers.

I believe that the way the law is written in RI /& the offense committed , that the price to pay ...can,t be that great .I think it has to have a change in the law to get more drastic :confused:

Set-up? word has it he took a charter client fishing the Block a short time ago. He loaded his hatch with 50 fish with the clients. Client tels someone, someone says wtf and calls dem with the scoop. end of that chapter, but i'm sure there will be a next chapter in his book

ya setup would not be a word I'd use at all .

he's a cocky moron imo
you'd have to be to do that sort of thing
take his boat, auction it off:smash::fury::wall:
the laws and punishments need something done about the slaps on the wrist that do nothing
judges need to put the hammer down

I get sick of hearing this stuff too just like everyone else.

The sense of entitlement of some of these clowns is stupefying.
Put him in an iron maiden, hanging in the harbor.

wonder how long he's been at it? if he's who i think he is he's been comm fishing for 25 yrs or so......

apology
 

I want to apologise for my comment. In retrospect i regret posting it and understand why it was pulled. I feel very frustrated. People like this should be made an example of. Unfortunatly the legal system will not seriously punish this thief nor make him an example that would encourage others not to follow in his path. Charlie

people on board accomplices ?
 

it was premeditated that's for sure!

he's a repeat offender and needs some
JAIL TIME ......not just fines.:fury:

Don't sweat it.....No Biggie. everybody gets caught up in a moment sometimes....It might even happen to me once in awhile :hee:

Require poachers to place a permanent glow in the dark sticker near the registration number on the bow of the boat the signifies the owner is a poacher.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Love that idea. Take his boat and all of their tackle and rods too.

I was fishing Boston Harbor a few years ago and these guys next to us were poaching flounder. We explained the regulations to them in case they didn't know (in a not so polite way)... So they started reeling the small fish up on the other side of their boat. My friend wanted to "board them" but instead we called the Env Police. Got the run around at first but finally they got an officer on the line who cared and went over there and busted them with a cooler full of shorts. All they got was a little fine and a scolding.

How about they tatoo a big "P" on his forehead?

But seriously, there has to be some serious deterrent or nothing will change.

What SHOULD happen: If caught as a REPEAT offender, lose license FOREVER and lose all gear related to the act (Boat, transport vehicle, all tackle) and a fine.

What WILL happen: Absolutely nothing! Maybe a small fine and ANOTHER slap on the wrist.

Unless they stiffen th penalties, nothing will ever change.
This jackhole will only pass on the fine to his next charter by "slightly" increasing the price.

I say hit them where it will hurt: take them out of the business entirely and permanently!
(I'm not talking any form of violence, but rather legal action.)

Oh, I agree--I'm not singling out just the RI and CT--and even some NY guys--who have Mass licenses and bring in fish from their waters. There are at least as many SE Mass guys running out there, too.

I have always said that the Mass license is way too cheap, and way too easy to get. Some guys make a living commercial fishing--they get their boat license early in the year, they fish every species in season, they're grandfathered into the fluke fishery, and they also buy a master species commercial shellfish license. And many, many people just get the boat permit and striped bass endorsement and fish the second Tuesday in July until the season is closed, usually by the end of August.

I agree. The penalties need to be severe for a repeat offender, and like DZ mentioned, if they find a hidden box with fish in it, obviously intended for poaching, should be licence revoked for life, either jail time or a huge monetary fine, and all gear taken. I work in a prison, and I gotta say if that guy was in my jail, it'd be hard not to be the hand of justice myself...

I wonder if he has a hide in his car as well.

The officers could have confiscated his boat and all equipment as well. They could also issue summons to everyone that was on board because they particpated in the crime also.

I think the mere fact that he had an electronic hide for the poached/stolen (it was stolen from us) fish he should be bound over to superior court if at all possible. This smells of not just ...............well thats all I have to say

I wonder why he wasn't arrested. Poaching is a crime punishable by imprisonment, at leats I think it is, I'll have to look that up, I believe which makes what took place a misdomeanor in the presence of an officer.

Now see if he was a real commercial guy ie federal that lie wouldbof been ten gs.... Reality lieing to monitors or observers or feds is ten thousand finebfor us.....
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Oh and for the record yes i live in ri fish outta chatham... We rod and reel for bass and tuna as well as gillnet... But we fish mass waters only for bass.... As thumper can tell youvits a different kind of expierience....now the down side.... I make my living on the water not just on nice days... We are not fair weather fisherman... Oh it is blowin and crappy... Oh well it a 4-10 hour ride to the gear... Head down do it... The thing that gets me is how does mass have so many commercial guys??? Seriously chatham has been a fuster cluck to get in or out of lately... All bass guys... Just wondering what they do the other 11months a year to make their money....
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$450 - that's less than half of what a DEM enforcement guy costs state per day in salary, benefits, and the thirty+ years he'll spend in retirement. The only time they catch anyone is when a dime is dropped. BFD - they caught one poacher.