Could this be why the Striper fishing is going downhill? MD poaching
 

I haven't seen this news flash on this board, but it looks like the Commies in Maryland have been catching a lot more than their share.

Maryland Poaching

There are lots of reasons but I am sure that doesn't help,,, Hopefully there will finally be some stiff penalties and time in JAIL.. Maybe that will change the mind of some of the poachers out there,,,

4 years of investigations and undercover work with them buy illegal fish the whole time?

While I feel sympathy for the honest commercial fishermen in that area, a closed commercial season in the striper's spawning grounds may help raise stocks.

Like GattaFish said, I'm sure this is just one of many reasons the fishery is getting decimated - fragmented regulations on a state-by-state basis is another. At least these guys are facing stiff penalties, unlike the guy caught for the 3rd time with literally tons of illegal bass and received a $500 fine.

Which guy was that? Here in Mass? Or the ones the DEMs watched while they were trawling on a closed day?

With budget cutbacks, that kind of law enforcement will be extinct, and poaching will only increase.

Trawling on a closed day. If I remember correctly (and I probably don't), it was his 3 citation in a week or two. I believe it was in MD or NJ.

why do you feel that its more common than you think, B.I. fish being sold in westport is easy to do, for instance.

THANKS for hippin' us to the trip, Cap't Dave!!

somehow i don't think that this type of crime is
as isolated as we might think,,,,,,,,,,,,,sadly the legit comm's
may end up suffering due to the deplorable actions of this
ring of thieves and poachers. i hope that THEY get the book thrown
at them; vehicles and boats confiscated, licenses revoked, steep fines, and sum serious JAIL time.

a slap on the wrist would send the wrong message along the entire Striper Coast, imho. re: the $500 fine for that mommaluke from RI~~~~millions of $$$$ from illegal sales vs $500 as a penalty??
WTF were the authorities thinking??? prolly sum wink-wink-nudge-nudging going on.

i envision a sheet-load of poachers and illegal wholesalers quaking
in their rubber boots right about now ~~pending the results of the legal adjudications
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,let's hope so anywho!!

this sheet makes me wanna :yak6:

Go south of Long Island in the fall and charter a boat. Out in the water all around you I have been told by people whose opinons I trust and value that every boat around you out in the water they gaff every fish coming to the boat and keep them, every fish. This word was from two years ago.