Fishing with Out a License - Fines

[RIJIMMY]

I think there is a $10 fine in RI

[beamie]

Ronnie does bring up a good point.

To go further with that point.....what if it wasn't a charter, just plain recs and at the time you were fishing you had 5 guys on the boat, kept 10 fish but then dropped 2 of your kids friends off back at thier boat/dock and your going home to filet fish.....it was all legal when you were fishing. Leaves allot of this to the disgrestion of the EPO.

I guess the answer is to take pics with the date stamp.....s*cks to have to worry about nimor things like this......

[MakoMike]

Originally Posted by beamie

Ronnie does bring up a good point.

To go further with that point.....what if it wasn't a charter, just plain recs and at the time you were fishing you had 5 guys on the boat, kept 10 fish but then dropped 2 of your kids friends off back at thier boat/dock and your going home to filet fish.....it was all legal when you were fishing. Leaves allot of this to the disgrestion of the EPO.

I guess the answer is to take pics with the date stamp.....s*cks to have to worry about nimor things like this......

Just make sure the guys you drop off take their fish with them. If they don't then you're illegal and you'll have to live with the consequences.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by MakoMike

Just make sure the guys you drop off take their fish with them. If they don't then you're illegal and you'll have to live with the consequences.

A charter capt in Newport has gotten caught twice w/ 3 fish. of course he claimed the charter decided they didn't want them at the last minute or some such story... (of course he was selling them to a kitchen through the backdoor.... )

[FishermanTim]

Whoever is in charge of this new saltwater license fustercluck has done a piss-poor job of pre-and post enactment notification to the public.
They make it increasingly more difficult to do the right thing, and haven't developed any meaningful method of enforcing the rules, which NOBODY knows about.
When the people that are paid to enforce the saltwater fishing regulations don't know all the rules that will apply, and aren't citing those that break them, them what exactly are we paying $10.00 for?

It would seem logical to me (and to almost everyone else on this site) that before you institute a new licensing scheme, that you would at least have a set of rules/laws and fines that the license would be governed by. But of course, we're talking Mass here, and they're first concern is the $$ and not the laws.

Maybe we can hope that someone can tell/show us where the saltwater license money is going to? Once again, this is Mass, and hope is all we can do!

[Raider Ronnie]

Originally Posted by MakoMike

Just make sure the guys you drop off take their fish with them. If they don't then you're illegal and you'll have to live with the consequences.

Mike,
So how do I package, freeze & shipe to them if they take it with them ?
I'm sure this goes on all the time all over the country where clients fly in & out.
I brought this up as an example that the environmentals don't have an answer for everything.

[zacs]

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

Mike,
So how do I package, freeze & shipe to them if they take it with them ?
I'm sure this goes on all the time all over the country where clients fly in & out.
I brought this up as an example that the environmentals don't have an answer for everything.

you have to unload the fish with the people. It is pretty cut and dry. once the people get off and you leave with the fish, you are no longer legal. like it or not, that is the law. its not that the epo doesn't have an answer, its that they are not understanding their own laws.

are there a lot of charters where they unload the fish & clients at different locations? Even if you fly in, normally there is some transportation to the home dock of the charter.

Options:

Continue doing as you do... odds of getting caught are slim, and chances you could talk your way out are high.

No longer offer the service freezing/shipping fish.

Make all sports depart from your dock (maybe provide car service to BOS or something).

Have someone meet you at the passenger drop off to take the fish.

Drop fish at your dock first, then go drop customers.

I'm sure you could come up with something else, this is just off the top of my head.

Look at it this way, if you could somehow find a loophole that allowed you to take 14 fish around in your boat after you drop people off, then what would stop people (bad guys) from just using that loophole to take 14 fish for themselves. EXAMPLE: Charter in the morning, take some pics then send them on their way, then go out and get yourself 14 more fish.... when you get stopped--- "hey, i had a charter on, they left but I am still holding their fish... want to see a picture from this morning?" You see how easily it could be abused?


If it were me, I would personally just continue taking the (minor) risk and do as you have been doing. But I would understand that there is really no grey area here.

[Raider Ronnie]

Originally Posted by zacs

you have to unload the fish with the people. It is pretty cut and dry. once the people get off and you leave with the fish, you are no longer legal. like it or not, that is the law. its not that the epo doesn't have an answer, its that they are not understanding their own laws.

are there a lot of charters where they unload the fish & clients at different locations? Even if you fly in, normally there is some transportation to the home dock of the charter.

Options:

Continue doing as you do... odds of getting caught are slim, and chances you could talk your way out are high.

No longer offer the service freezing/shipping fish.

Make all sports depart from your dock (maybe provide car service to BOS or something).

Have someone meet you at the passenger drop off to take the fish.

Drop fish at your dock first, then go drop customers.

I'm sure you could come up with something else, this is just off the top of my head.

Look at it this way, if you could somehow find a loophole that allowed you to take 14 fish around in your boat after you drop people off, then what would stop people (bad guys) from just using that loophole to take 14 fish for themselves. EXAMPLE: Charter in the morning, take some pics then send them on their way, then go out and get yourself 14 more fish.... when you get stopped--- "hey, i had a charter on, they left but I am still holding their fish... want to see a picture from this morning?" You see how easily it could be abused?


If it were me, I would personally just continue taking the (minor) risk and do as you have been doing. But I would understand that there is really no grey area here.

I'm not really worried about getting caught.
At the cost ($250 Fed ex overnight + $150 I charged for my time) it's not like we do it that often. Not many people going to shell out $400 to ship after shelling out $950 for the charter
We take pics usually at end of trips before cutting up fish..
And the fact the enviros know us from seeing us out there enough.
As I said I brought this up just to show some situations they don't have the answers.