Recreational Fishermen caught with nearly 300 more black sea bass than allowed
On just the second day of the black sea bass fishing season, two boats of fishermen were caught by harbormasters with nearly 300 more of the black sea bass than allowed in the recreational limit. The Wareham Harbormaster Department alerted the Massachusetts Environmental Police to the two boats on Sunday at the Tempest Knob Public boat ramp. When officers inspected the first boat, which had four people aboard, they found multiple coolers that contained 225 more black sea bass than the recreational limit allows, Environmental Police said. Fifty-nine of those fish were smaller than the 15-inch limit. That boat also had 98 more scup than legal possession limit, as well as two undersized tautog and one 17-inch striped bass. Click here to read the story 17:25
FYI – this is not a “recreational fisherman.” This is outright poaching…. With that type of catch, Vegas odds are a sure thing that most likely this was not a first time either….
Ec, you are absolutely right. Poachers, pure and simple, and my apologies to all the recreational fishermen that would never on their worst day, conduct themselves in that manner.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.. Every jetty/ creek and harbor needs enforcement…. The fines levied would easily pay the salaries of those enforcing. I always hear the rec landings data is wrong, yeah its is.. But not in the direction they think.. overharvest by recs is outa control!!!!
The fines need to be substantial.. Remember, if they can afford a play boat ,they can pay a steep fine..
I also hope enforcement remembers that this is not just overharvest,but falsifying records and the big one is tax evasion.. They should be hung!!
THEY CANT EAT THAT MANY!
James….you can read what I write about if you read my account in socialized media…the recreational harvest estimates are extremely wrong – I have numerous charts and other data sets which point this clearly out…….just like the RV BIGELOW which doesn’t perform up to specs and cannot catch flatfish…… and those within fishery management who are more supportive of the ENGO agenda then in working with the fishing industry. The jack-azz in the article should be levied an extremely high fine…not just a few thousand dollars, but a painfully high fine because this has all the tell-tale signs of someone who has an ingrained habit and intent of conducting these illicit activities. There is no doubt that this comes across as someone with no respect for the resource and should be treated so by the court.