Illegal Bass Nets

489 Views 7 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Bob ECT, Mar 15, 2005

Bob ECT

Discussion Starter · Mar 14, 2005

End Of Striped Bass Gill Net Season Busy For Natural Resources Police
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HILLSBORO? The end of February marked the end of the striped bass drift gill net season in the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) officers working in the Upper Eastern Regional Area confiscated 63 illegal gill nets during the last week of the season. Over 1,200 pounds of fish along with waterfowl were removed from those nets.

Twenty-three nets were seized in Queen Anne?s Chester and Corsica Rivers, 19 nets in Dorchester?s Choptank River and Fishing Bay, 12 nets in Talbot County?s Blackwalnut Point area and nine nets from Kent County?s Chester River. These nets were unattended, unmarked and some were anchored.

A gill net is a net used for the commercial harvest of fish. The net is maintained in a vertical position in the water with sinkers or floats. The net captures fish by means of a mesh too small to permit passage of the body of the fish or withdrawal of the head once the posterior margin of the gill covers has passed through the mesh. A drift gill net is a net not secured to or anchored to the bottom, including a net rigged with up to 20 pounds of weight at each end. These nets must be attended by the licensee in a boat within two miles of the net while it is in waters of the Chesapeake Bay, or within one mile when the net is in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, its coastal bays and their tributaries, or a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. An anchor gill net is a net that is stationary in the water and secured to the bottom by conventional anchors or heavy weights.

No arrests or charges have been filed on any of the nets however, all are still under investigation.

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KeysKid

· #2 · Mar 15, 2005

Yeah, these are some classy dudes....

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Paul Tripodi

· #3 · Mar 15, 2005

When are they going to wakeup down there and stop the netting.

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CURIUS GEORGE

· #4 · Mar 15, 2005

At least someone looking for them. Locating 63 of them must have taken some work. Hopefully its not just the tip of the iceburg.

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Captblock

· #5 · Mar 15, 2005

Bob,
Where are you digging up all this stuff??? Are you on a campaign to improve the commercial fisherman image?

I am glad to see the MD Natural Resource police do their job. I think this goes to show you the total disregard of the fish regulations and laws. Are we seeing more violations because of the increase in activity or the increase of enforcement?

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BLUEFINN

· #6 · Mar 15, 2005

Originally posted by Captblock:
Bob,
Where are you digging up all this stuff??? Are you on a campaign to improve the commercial fisherman image? I am glad to see the MD Natural Resource police do their job. I think this goes to show you the total disregard of the fish regulations and laws. Are we seeing more violations because of the increase in activity or the increase of enforcement?

To sum it up in one word; Greed!

And working from time to time with a commercial fisherman I hope there caught and prosicuted!

This is a perfect example of why it will be hard to get Rec's and Comms on the same page, It paints a broad and bad picture!

On the same token I know Slob Fisherman who still catch and sell and then complain about the commercial guys,and unless most walk around the docks with there eyes closed and ears plugged then you know what im talking about!

An example that I saw time and time again last season was Rec boats returning with three fisherman and a hundred Atlantic Croakers ,After cleaning a dozen or so they would be looking for a place to sell them or give them away.
Why not just keep what you need and return the rest? Presently they are in great abundance but it was not long ago when the question was: What ever happened to the Croakers. Well it will happen again and then they will be limited just like everything elce.

WE as a whole are our own worst enemy!

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Bob ECT

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 15, 2005

Originally posted by BLUEFINN:
Presently they are in great abundance but it was not long ago when the question was: What ever happened to the Croakers. Well it will happen again and then they will be limited just like everything elce.

I was down in VA last year, guys were driving up from NC and bringing back truckloads of them to sell. Not sure if they were really comm fisherman. That's often a blurred line down there.

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Bob ECT

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 15, 2005

Originally posted by Captblock:
Bob,
Where are you digging up all this stuff??? Are you on a campaign to improve the commercial fisherman image? I am glad to see the MD Natural Resource police do their job. I think this goes to show you the total disregard of the fish regulations and laws. Are we seeing more violations because of the increase in activity or the increase of enforcement?

I just thought it was interesting, I'm sure all those fish got counted

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