| H1 tags : Please Excuse Our Appearance ! Our New Site Is Under Construction!; Help us STOP Ocean Industrialization!; Board puts the hammer down on rockfish poachers
September 9, 2010 Baltimore Sun, Outdoors Girl
The Potomac River Fisheries Commission voted Thursday to revoke or suspend the fishing privileges of eight watermen convicted in federal court in the largest rockfish poaching scheme in the history of the Chesapeake Bay and the river.
The harshness, and in some cases totality, of the penalties surprised some people. But the commissioners clearly were disturbed by the sweep of the 12-year scheme, which involved watermen stealing striped bass, unscrupulous check station operators falsifying catch records and seafood distributors willing to pay for fish out of season and fish over and under legal size.
The fish, worth millions of dollars, were shipped all over the country from 1995 to 2007.
"It sends a strong signal," said Tom O'Connell, Maryland's Fisheries Service director and vice chairman of the commission. "This cannot be tolerated."
"It's clear we take violations of this significance very seriously," said Steven Bowman, one of Virginia's representatives and head of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. "People who conduct themselves in this manner deserve no public trust."
The eight-member commission regulates all fishing on the Potomac between Washington and the Chesapeake Bay, exclusive of the tributaries on either side of the river.
The poachers were caught after a five-year investigation by an interstate task force formed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and undercover officers from Maryland Natural Resources Police and the Virginia Marine Police.
The commission voted to:
· Ban Gordon Dallas Jett from holding PRFC commercial or recreational licenses. He will not be allowed to be an agent, employee or crew member for any other person licensed to fish, crab, oyster or clam in the Potomac River.
· Ban Jerry Lawrence Decatur Sr. from holding PRFC commercial or recreational licenses. He will not be allowed to be an agent, employee or crew member for any other person licensed to fish, crab, oyster or clam in the Potomac River.
· Ban Jerry Lawrence Decatur Jr. from holding PRFC commercial or recreational licenses. He will not be allowed to be an agent, employee or crew member for any other person licensed to fish, crab, oyster or clam in the Potomac River. The commission also recalled all unused 2010 PRFC striped bass tags.
· Revoke the PRFC hook and line license of Dennis Dewayne Dent. He also was banned from holding hook and line or gill net licenses, and was banned from having striped bass tags for any gear type. The commission recalled all unused 2010 PRFC striped bass tags.
· Revoke the PRFC crab pot license of Scott Lee Dent. He will not be issued any hook and line or gill net licenses, and will not be issued any striped bass tags for any gear type.
· Revoke the fyke net licenses of Joseph Peter Nelson Jr. He will not be issued pound net, hook and line, fyke net or gill net licenses, and will not be issued any striped bass tags for any gear type. The commission also recalled all unused 2010 PRFC striped bass tags.
· Ban Kenneth Lee Dent from receiving any striped bass tags for any gear type for one year.
· Revoke all unused 2010 striped bass tags held by John William Dean.
"Only one guy really expressed any regret," said O'Connell. "That was really the most disappointing thing."
Prosecution of those arrested in the poaching scheme is winding down. Sentencing of some of the participants is scheduled for Nov. 8 at U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission this year revoked the licenses and permits of five convicted watermen for two years--the maximum allowed under state law. |
