What to do about poachers?
 

Twice now, I have witnessed 2-4 young hispanics (if you don't like me saying there origin... too damn bad) keeping short fish.

The first time I made sure they realized that the fish were not legal. One of the little B@$t@rds smirked and said in broken english ..."not 28?". I wanted to kick his @$$ in the drink. these guys KNOW what they are doing is illegal.

I have dropped the dime on them twice to DEM an nothing seems to happen. Theese guys are really starting to piss me off...


They drive a silverish/light blue/white pickup w/mass plates.
2-4 Hispanics, white poles.

this has been a huge problem in Mass, at least up on the Merrimac River ... and they got busted a couple of times ... but the challenge is too few resources to stop them and not enough impact financially (they get a small fine and that's it) on these guys to stop them.

ive seen it up here on the m mac.. sucks.:rocketem:

to many to control.


penalty should be bigger.

It's a problem in Rhody too. Not just the shore fisherman either. I think we all know pirates--some of them are friends of ours. Which doesn't help any with the ethics. I'd wager a guess that a substantial number of the better bass fisherman have at one time or another sold fish they weren't allowed to. What it creates is a mess. If someone chooses to play the black market that person should be totally exempt for having any opinion whatsoever about the management of striped bass.

RI is where I fish... Seriously If I didn't have more to lose than these dirtbags, I'd have a tough time not busting them up...

dink bass at super 88 market
 

i've been to super 88 market before in boston. in the fish section they have tons of dink striped bass lined up for sale. i should take a picture of it. it's horrifying. :liquify:

Did you notice if they had a tag for possibly being farm raised Stripers?

It's one of those small things in life that you should not sweat - it's almost inconsequential in comparison to habitat destruction and commercial by-catch. The poachers can poach all they like and they'll still be poor.

I've seen those in the Super 88. They are farm raised and or Hybrid Stripers.

that's a good point. i didn't even think of that. the first thing that came to mind was poaching. thanks

Take a clear picture of the poachers with your digital camera. Then try to get an action shot of them with the short bass. Then take a picture of their vehicle with the license plates and send an email in to the responsible government agency, cc'ing as many higher up folks in that bureaucracy as you can...bureaucrats are terrified of email chains that prove that they are not doing their jobs. That might step up enforcement in your local area.

And if you see them again, follow up on it and send the second set of pics in...

And if THAT doesn't work the forward the whole email chain complete with the responses (or non responses to your complaints) to your congressman and say that that the local agencies in your district aren't doing anything and here is the proof...cc'ing the original guy who you sent the email to in the first place, to let him know you are taking your problem right to the top and its possible that his unlucky day is on the way...

Don't drop a dime, there is no record of your call. Shoot an email, they will then be ignoring the evidence you have collected at their own risk...

I saw something like that in RI just recently,,,,, And they left a mess when they went home ,,,,,,,,, makes me wonder,,,

those are the farmed raised variety

i guess i'm late

commercial bycatch kills far more juvenile bass poachers. You should see shrimp boat bycatch down off North Carolina. Tons of baby flounder and bass.