At 4:15 a.m. on the morning of November 5, a Maryland Natural Resources police officer pulled over a pick-up truck towing a boat on Hooper Island's Route 335. Four men were inside the truck, and when the officer further inspected the boat he found coolers containing a total of 138 striped bass.
All but seven of the fish were under the legal limit of 18 inches.
The MDNRP were able to charge the men with both having more than 10 striped bass over the limit and having more than 10 striped bass under the legal size. Of the four men, two are repeat offenders. Jose Adelso Hernandez Orellana, 43, of Manassas, VA, was found guilty ofcrabbing violations in 2009, while Rene Obdulio Pacheco Rivera, 31, of Oxon Hill, MD, was found guilty of poaching undersized rockfish last year.
A post on the MD DNR Fisheries Service's Facebook page brings up questions of both whether the courts can do enough to punish offenders (especially repeat offenders) as well as the problems associated with subsistence fishing (although it is not fully known what the men were doing with the haul).
We want to hear from you: when you head out fishing, are you fully aware of size restrictions for your catch? What do you think of the consequences and fines involved in both poaching and failure to adhere to legal limits? What is a significant consequence for this type of action?
For the full story from the DNR site, please visit maryland.gov.