Stripers Forever -
We have pasted below a copy of a recent article from the New Haven
Register about illegal striped bass sellers who were caught in
Massachusetts. In another version of the story, the apprehended pair said
this was the third time they had sold fish illegally, but we'll bet that's
only this year! How many more such sales go on daily; sales that are
unreported against any commercial quota? We're confident that this is the
tip of the iceberg
We have written before that one of the problems created by commercial
striped bass fishing is that it spawns and facilitates illegal activity,
and that it sets an example among anglers for poor treatment of the
resource. Note that these guys call themselves "part time commercial
fishermen". What else could they be for a three week season? This is a
big-time public recreational fishery that is extraordinarily economically
valuable; fishery managers who have cheerleaded so long for commercial
interests that they can no longer see the forest for the trees are
allowing a relative few pinhookers to siphon off the future of this
specie. It is truly time for commercial striped bass fishing to end.
Here is the link
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15069730&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=8the story is pasted in below.
CLINTON — John Zacks Jr., who’s been a fisherman for most of his 78 years,
says he and his fishing buddy were just trying to make a bit of money to
buy fuel for their boats.
But the state Department of Environmental Protection police say you can’t
earn gas money through the sale of 805 pounds of striped bass trucked
across state lines.
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The DEP’s environmental conservation police revealed Friday that Zacks, an
East Haven resident, and Benjamin Rapuano Jr. of New Haven both face
charges in Connecticut and Massachusetts after state and federal police
caught them this week selling the fish to a New Bedford, Mass., seafood
dealer.
DEP police Capt. Rick Lewis said state officers and an agent from the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service staked out Clinton Harbor on Tuesday after
receiving information from an informant who said fish was being sold
illegally.
Lewis said they watched Zacks and Rapuano return to port in their two
boats, unload 33 striped bass and 91 scup — or porgy — into a waiting
pickup truck, and then followed the men as they drove to New Bedford.
The fishermen were met there by Massachusetts police officers and an agent
from the National Marine Fisheries Service, who seized the haul. The
National Marine Fisheries Service also is considering charges against the
seafood dealer.
The striped bass are valued at $1,500 to $1,600, and the scup are worth
$200, Lewis said.
He said arrest warrants are being prepared for Zacks and Rapuano, charging
them with taking more than the daily limit of fish and possession of fish
with the intent to illegally sell. According to the DEP’s Web site,
anglers are limited to catching two striped bass per day and the fish must
measure at least 28 inches. The limit for scup is 25 fish per person.
Massachusetts authorities already have charged the pair with selling
striped bass without the proper permits and other violations, he said.
Striped bass are a plentiful species, Lewis said, but also are protected
under the fisheries management plan of the National Marine Fisheries
Service.
Under state law, "Any striped bass (taken) from Connecticut waters cannot
be sold," he said. "That’s why they went up to Massachusetts.
"Taking too many (bass) or having the wrong size is a frequent charge"
brought by state authorities, he said, "but selling bass — we don’t get a
lot of that. When we do get it, we’re very aggressive with our
investigation."
As to the scup, Lewis said Zacks and Rapuano did not have the necessary
licenses to sell that fish in Connecticut or Massachusetts.
Zacks, who described himself and Rapuano as "part-time commercial
fishermen," said he knew striped bass were prohibited from being sold in
Connecticut and so they took the catch to Massachusetts.
They’d done so before, he said, but the trip this week was with their
largest catch.
The scup, for which he has a Rhode Island license, he said, were not to be
sold. "We just had them in our possession," he said.
At $2 a pound for the bass, Zacks said, "We’re not getting rich on this.
It’s just a situation where we were trying to make a little money for
gas." Zacks said the pair fish out of Clinton, where Rapuano docks his
boat.
Lewis said the state charges are punishable by fines, and Zacks said he
plans to talk to a lawyer about the situation.
©New Haven Register~2005
