more nets found off KI

DNR pulled another net with 4,000lbs of rock fish in it yesterday off bloody point, this is so disgusting i hope when they catch these a$$ holes they get serious jail time. maybe its time for O Malley to out law all netting in Md waters

how many nets did they sink off bloody point and nobody saw them? unbelievable! this is a very sad year of stripers in the bay

[DOGFISH]

Enough is Enough

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/0...#comment-28017

They really need to catch these poachers. The news report said that these were fresh nets, which have been set since this has all started, with two tons of fish. These bastards are bold. When they are caught they should get substantial jail time in addition to loss of money, boats, gear and license. This just goes to show the cultural mind set of illegal fishing in the bay. The only real way to stem this way of thinking is to ban all nets in the Maryland Waters of the Chesapeake Bay. That way any net anywhere would be suspect. A strong sportfishing sector would more than make up for any money from netted fish. They are killing the bay. Rockfish should be a gamefish.


http://www.hometownannapolis.com/new...fish-nets.html

[Redfish12]

I think DNR should give a reward for information regarding the location of nets from recs. I know most do not have their boats in the water this time of year but imagine how much more water would be covered and more eyes watching. I'm sure those nets full of 2k lbs of rock would show up on a fishfinder.

This is getting out of control. They need harsher penalties!

[DOGFISH]

I think DNR should give a reward for information regarding the location of nets from recs. I know most do not have their boats in the water this time of year but imagine how much more water would be covered and more eyes watching. I'm sure those nets full of 2k lbs of rock would show up on a fishfinder.

This is getting out of control. They need harsher penalties!

I thought about the recreational fisherman helping out too, but the idea of their boats out of the water for winter also occured to me. I agree this is getting out of control. The problem seems to be, just how long has it really been out of control, and how much damage is really being done? Given the size of the bay, I wonder just how many nets there are at other areas and locations? It seems as if this may be larger than what DNR may be able to handle. With rockfish being a mirgratory species, it may take the Feds to get involved. When they do catch these poachers, the penalties need to very harsh to send a message as a preventative measure.

[DOGFISH]

Wow, the discussion, or something worse, on TidalFish, under conservation, is really nasty. Sounds like the commercial fisherman are really upset.

[Memory Maker]

Mike ........ DNR does have a reward out ........ but those guys are not about to turn in their daddy uncle ..........

Dogfish ........... banning nets won't happen in the very near future ........ they have a very strong lobby especially on the Eastern Shore .......... it will take small steps ....... like how the CCA did it for Redfish down south. That said ...... small steps are being taken ........

Just finding the 5 tons of prespawn fish in illegal nets is having some affect even if it is the loss of nets for the poachers, bad publ, and the loss of the commies netting season .......

[Redfish12]

I know they aren't going to turn each other in, but they should. Gives them all a bad name and all commercial guys are not the same. This hurts the guys that obey the laws and the guys that fish other gear. I was trying to say that recreational guys have some pretty sophisticated equipment on their boats and should feel strongly about the management of this resource... Therefore, if possible they could assist by scanning areas that they know hold fish. I'm always hearing complaints on tf about submerged spread robbing nets, if these were phoned in then maybe dnr would have a better chance of apprehending these criminals. The more eyes and technology that can get involved the better.

I'm not trying to say everyone go against commercial guys, just help keep them honest.

[Memory Maker]

I know they aren't going to turn each other in, but they should. Gives them all a bad name and all commercial guys are not the same. This hurts the guys that obey the laws and the guys that fish other gear. I was trying to say that recreational guys have some pretty sophisticated equipment on their boats and should feel strongly about the management of this resource... Therefore, if possible they could assist by scanning areas that they know hold fish. I'm always hearing complaints on tf about submerged spread robbing nets, if these were phoned in then maybe dnr would have a better chance of apprehending these criminals. The more eyes and technology that can get involved the better.

I'm not trying to say everyone go against commercial guys, just help keep them honest.

That's a good Idea Mike .......... assuming you are on the water at 3AM midweek in February ...........

These scumbags are thieves ....... they will operate in the shadows ..........they place their nets when they have the least possibility of getting caught .......... usually at night on the days that their spies say the DNR are elsewhere

[DOGFISH]

They must really go to all ends to make this work for them. Possibly this spy thing has more merit that what I had originally imagined. They get so upset when they thing that DNR is using tracking devices. Its unreal. There must be as much illegal catch, if not more, as there is a commercial quota.

[Memory Maker]

They must really go to all ends to make this work for them. Possibly this spy thing has more merit that what I had originally imagined. They get so upset when they thing that DNR is using tracking devices. Its unreal. There must be as much illegal catch, if not more, as there is a commercial quota.

Uh Yeah ............. I keep saying ....... it's a cultural thing .......... it's the land of pleasant living ........ as long as you can steal as much as you want with little consequence .........

tickets are only if you get caught and it's not you're buddy who gives the tickets .......... courts many times don't convict for no reason and even if they do the fine is less that 1/10th of a medium catch ...........

Raise the fines, catch more, confiscate the boats, jail time and get the courts to wake up .......... THEN you will have a level playing field and the limits will mean something ......... also there will be few watermen left .....

THEN you can get the gamefish status but you won't need it because you will have abundance

[surfdog]

i think the reward went up to$20,000 this might be enough to turn one of these scumbags.

your right they have spies wathcing the dnr and its not just this area these are the ones found how may more are out there?

the ones that are whining about finding tracking devices are known violators so i say tuff scumbag you get what you deserve.

cca had some literature and posters around their booth sat. but it was so crowded i couldnt get close.

[Capt C-Hawk]

The sad thing is everyone is treating this like it's a 2011 thing. This same kind of poaching has been going on for years. Basically, better news coverage and better enforcement skills have brought it out in the open. Hopefully once DNR officers start catching these creeps the prosecuters and judges in the "good ole boy" network will be too worried about the publicity to do business as usual. Too bad the Feds aren't in on this round.

[Memory Maker]

The sad thing is everyone is treating this like it's a 2011 thing. This same kind of poaching has been going on for years. Basically, better news coverage and better enforcement skills have brought it out in the open. Hopefully once DNR officers start catching these creeps the prosecuters and judges in the "good ole boy" network will be too worried about the publicity to do business as usual. Too bad the Feds aren't in on this round.

Years ......... how about generations ........... it's like moonshine in the hills of Kentucky ........ part of the culture ........

The judges on the Eastern Shore aren't worried about the bad press ....... they're more worried they won't get reelected if they do their job and throw the book at them .......... time for the cases to be tried in 1 court off of the shore .........

[surfdog]

i would think with all the media exposure that they wont be tryed on the eastern shore.

[mmanolis2001]

So we are looking at around 20,000 lbs of illegally harvested bass in a small section of a large fish-able bay. How many more nets are out there at this time scooping up fish in unmonitored sections of the bay.

I have a feeling unless they catch them in the act of retrieving a net they wont catch the poachers. I fear the good-ole-boy network runs very deep in that area. Where are these fish heading to? Local markets, Restaurants, Shipping across state lines? How do you sell 2000 to 4000 lbs of out of season fish at a time? There has to be a well organized and established series of fronts to move the product. Their are more people than the poachers involved in this mess.

How do you watch and monitor all the possible distribution fronts?

Lots of questions and a almost impossible job for authority's to manage. I don't want to see honest commercial fisherman lose there lively hood and way of life that sometimes span generations. Something has to be done though and i feel changing from a gill net to hook and line fishery is a start. Will that stop the use of gill nets by poachers? Probably not entirely but it will make storage and transport of the nets harder. I'm guessing 4000ft of netting is not an easy thing to hide. The unfortunate result of this is the hit the honest comms will take with this change. I'm sure it cost a lot less overhead running a gill net compared to hook and line fishing. Hey Florida managed to make it happen and look how well they are doing down their.

I would be in for a change to rec limits as well. Make it a slot limit 2 x 18" - 28" or 1 x 18"-28" and 1 x 28"-36",lower the creel limit to 1 fish per day. Kind of a compromise for the commercial waterman losing the ability to use gill nets.