Tag Archives: Attorney Daniel Rodgers
DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos says NY commercial fishermen ‘getting a raw deal’
New York commercial fishermen are “getting a raw deal” in federal fisheries quotas, and the state will follow through on a lawsuit early next year if meetings in December don’t fix the problem, the state’s top fisheries official said last week. At a meeting at the East Hampton Public Library on Thursday, Basil Seggos, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, listened to two full hours of complaints about state and federal regulations and management of fisheries, including restrictive quotas, inaccurate fish-population data, difficulty in getting and transferring permits, and “Gestapo”-like tactics of federal observers on local fishing vessels. click here to read the story 10:10
New York – State DEC officials agree to meeting over LI fishing permits
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has agreed to meet with Long Island fishing interests over long-held complaints about access to restricted commercial fishing permits following a move by local legislators seeking quicker action on state fishing rules. The meeting, brokered by Assemb. Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor), is expected to address the complexities of acquiring, transferring and even passing to family members permits to fish for vital local fish such as striped bass and fluke. It may also address so-called latent permits, in which a large percentage of existing permits are held but not used. Fishermen also have complained of long-standing moratoriums on certain species of fish. click here to read the story 09:29
East End fishermen gather, demand changes to state enforcement laws
East End commercial fishing advocates gathered at an Amagansett fishing family’s home Thursday to demand a change to state law that allows enforcement officers the “unfettered” ability to seize and sell fish taken in enforcement actions. The request follows years of charges by several East End fishermen that state enforcement officers seized fish then sold it without any procedure for those charged to reclaim their property once they were later acquitted. Since the practice has come under criticism, the state has returned more than $10,000 to fishermen who were acquitted of charges. Among them were the Lester family, whose members in 2013 received a check for $202.25 for seized fish after they were acquitted of illegal fish possession. Read the rest here 20:09
Levittown fisherman admits $632G illegal catch, gets 7 months
At a hearing in U.S. District Court in Central Islip late last month,
Anthony Joseph, 51, “expressed remorse” before his sentencing, according to his lawyer, Chad Seigel of Manhattan. You are treated more equitably and fairly if you drink and drive on our roads and endanger other citizens than if you violate the fisheries rules and regulations,” said attorney Daniel Rodgers, a former Suffolk prosecutor, who is executive director of the group New York Fish of Cutchogue. Read the rest here 09:29
New York Commercial Fishermen blast new Department of Environmental Conservation report
Commercial fishing advocates Thursday lambasted a new state report that criticizes New York’s top fisheries regulator. At a rally beside a commercial fishing trawler in Hampton Bays, two state lawmakers joined several dozen fishermen and fisherwomen and an attorney for fishermen in blasting the report as a “whitewash.” The report by the state inspector general, released on Wednesday, said the state Department of Environmental Conservation failed to process years of paperwork that fishermen are required to fill out every time they fish; DEC enforcement officers were improperly directing plea agreements, leading to possible “coercion” of defendants, and that property seized in arrests wasn’t returned after fishermen’s acquittals. Read the rest here 21:35:
