Read about some fish and game violations !!

[AndyS]

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/mcs...4/part2-b6.pdf saltwater


N.J. catches more people violating fishing laws
New Jersey conservation officers are making more arrests for state fishing-law violations such as exceeding daily catch limits and fishing out of season, according to a report in The Press of Atlantic City.
The report said state Division of Fish and Wildlife detailed two dozen cases during a two-month period at a Sept. 2 meeting of the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council. Capt. Mark Chicketano, of the division's Bureau of Law Enforcement, told the newspaper "it's getting worse. Is it a product of our general lawlessness in society? I don't know. I think it's an inherent lack of faith that our regulations mean anything


As New Jersey fishing laws increase, so do arrests
ATLANTIC CITY - Brett Nicklow observed suspicious and probably illegal activity here in the inlet section off Melrose Avenue this summer.
One man was handing what Nicklow suspected was illicit contraband to another man, who ran it back to a parked vehicle on Melrose Avenue and returned to the rock jetty for another pick-up. It happened over and over.
Could it be drugs? Maybe it was a numbers runner taking bets.
Nicklow, a conservation agent with the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, moved in and confronted the runner, Vincent C. Ngo, of Maple Shade. Nicklow was not even slightly surprised to find the illicit material was a fish, known as tautog.
Until recently, this July 25 case would have been considered unusual for a conservation agent. Now, it's pretty common. In fact, Nicklow staked out the inlet jetties two days later and made another arrest for possession of illegal tautog.
Tautog is one of the top recreational fishes in the mid-Atlantic, but the catch limit at the time Nicklow was staking the jetty was one fish per day.
A larger trend is under way. State conservation officers are making more arrests for violating fishing laws either for profit or just to take more fish home to eat, according to Capt. Mark Chicketano, of the division's Bureau of Law Enforcement.
It's getting worse. Is it a product of our general lawlessness in society? I don't know. I think it's an inherent lack of faith that our regulations mean anything," Chicketano said.
The bureau's Marine Region Headquarters gives a report at each meeting of the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council.
The reports used to include a handful of cases that took a few minutes to summarize. But at the Sept. 3 meeting, it took much longer for Chicketano to present the two dozen cases of illegal fishing since the last meeting two months earlier.
It didn't even include the fishermen caught Sept. 6 - three days after the meeting and two days after summer flounder season ended - with 47 summer flounder in their possession. That may be one key to what is going on. An early end of summer flounder season was highly unpopular. Chicketano noted when he started in 1983 there was no summer flounder season, and now there is a season, a size limit and a bag limit.
"There're more and more regulations. People don't believe in it anymore. They're so disgusted with it," Chicketano said.
Striped bass may be an exception. Many fishermen credit strict regulations with restoring stocks, and Chicketano said they see few striper violations.
Chicketano could understand if the bad economy was leading people to violate fishing laws to eat, but he said many of the violators have nice boats and cars. Some are in it for the money, especially with tautog and black sea bass, since both command high prices from the Asian restaurant trade in the New York City.
"We sit and watch at the Point Pleasant Canal (in Ocean County) and find an 80 percent violation rate with (tautog)," Chicketano said.
The July 25 Atlantic City case hasn't gone to municipal court yet. Nicklow charged Ngo with having 15 tautog under the 14-inch size limit as well as possessing 14 tautog above the daily bag limit of one fish per angler per day.
Ngo allegedly was getting the fish from an angler or anglers fishing on the jetty and running the fish to his vehicle on Melrose Avenue. Nicklow was working alone and was not able to arrest the anglers.
Violations for profit are not the only problem. A general disregard of the regulations among those fishing for sport was found during an Aug. 8 sweep on the Raritan Bay, where agents conducted 330 inspections of recreational fishermen and clammers. They issued 44 citations.
Recent violations include several in which people hid illegal fish in compartments in their boat, in a bucket tucked in vegetation near the Barnegat Inlet jetty and, in the case of a commercial lobsterman, hidden in a locked floating fish tote. Chicketano said he has caught anglers hiding fish in their pants and their waders.
"They know the law," Chicketano said.
Violations typically include taking undersized fish or crabs, catching more than the daily bag limit, fishing out of season, illegally selling to restaurants, not having the proper licenses, violations of filleting laws, harvesting in condemned waters, clamming on Sundays and using illegal nets.
The violations can bring fines as high as $10,000 and loss of certain fishing privileges. Several party boats are facing loss of their filleting privileges for summer flounder for filleting undersize fish. They are supposed to keep what's left, the rack, to prove the fillet came from that fish. They don't always match up.
"We have six cases of fictitious fillet racks (this year). We've had 63 summonses for flounder parts," Chicketano said.
Part of the trend is fueled by more fishing regulations and more enforcement agents. When Chicketano started in 1983, only a few species were regulated. There wasn't even a minimum flounder size then. Now, just about every species is regulated and seasons open and close, often several times per year for the same species. It can be confusing.
There were also just four marine agents in the state in 1983. Now there are 10 conservation officers in the field under Chicketano plus two lieutenants, Lt. Dominick Fresco and Lt. Mark Canale.
"There are more species protected and regulations have become more complicated. As the need for enforcement has grown, we've grown," Canale said.
The division has enforced fishing laws since 1892, but it wasn't until 1983 that a separate marine unit was created. Before that, officers did inland and water enforcement.
Some of the best cases, Canale noted, come from the public through the DEP's hotline, 1-877-WARNDEP, where anglers can report violations.

[NoLimit]

No mention of apprehending illegal commercial fish hauls which are not measured by the fish but by the ton.

[TAGGED FISH]

fillet laws , people taking fish to eat & striped bass 3 miles off

[1captainron]

For Christ sake!! All we want is something to go home with, the laws are screwing every one of us.....While Blackfish are being potted as they come in to spawn, you can't keep any. Flounder at 2 per person and a blackfish closer forced every freaking boat on the coast to target Striped Bass in the Spring...is this good management?
The bass are the next target. When that is taken care of, we will all be off the water or out of business....With all the hundreds of boats that did not participate in the spring fishery because of Sandy, do you think we hurt the bass population? BS.

They give us a 5 fish limit of Fluke at 17 1/2 inches, but you have to kill 30 shorts or more (if your lucky) to achieve this goal. Why not 5 fish 16 inches and over...then your done, you stop the killing and have something to eat for the day.....No, that would put us "OVER Quota" because we actually kept what they said we could! More BS.
Officer Chickatano has a job to do and he has done it well for many years. Unfortunately, he knows the deal what is going on and I believe he feels our pain, but he has to enforce the law as it's written. (Wouldn't be surprised) if he rights a book after he retires about the BS he had to deal with throughout his carrier.
The new comers to this sport are all gung ho with...that's right call them out, these guys are scum who keep a couple fish not in season or a 1/4 inch short but you have to remember, most of the guys who do that are the same guys who respect this sport more than anything, and have lived it all their lives.....does it really matter to the stock the few they bring home?

Open your eyes Fisherman, your rights, your privileges are being taken away and your falling for it. Politically correct in this business is Bullshit.
Go eat your farm raised Tilapia, Salmon or imported Swill Shrimp as the rest of us die with our memories of the past....We didn't create this, the Gov did, just like all the other bullshit shoved down our throats.
Happy fishing!! Capt.Ron

[1captainron]

Originally Posted by TAGGED FISH

fillet laws , people taking fish to eat & striped bass 3 miles off

Just what my reply is all about!!! Total BS!!!

[tautog]

I don't have much of a problem with the size and bag limits, but I hate the closed seasons. I don't know how many legal sized flounder, sea bass and blackfish I have thrown back over the past ten years, probably a thousand, maybe more.

[reason162]

As far as I can tell, the argument most frequently made against current regulations is that it's not based on "good science." I can accept that that might be the case. However, I do wonder...what is the rubric people use to judge what is good or bad science? Is it bad science because you don't like the regs?

Put it another way: under what conditions would a party boat captain concede that 5 fluke at 17.5" is the result of good science?

[squan63]

like the captain said im sure everyone on here has thrown back just short gut hooked dead fluke to catch one a half inch bigger thats legal. meanwhile commercial dragger size is shorter. something is wrong with that picture

[Chris G]

100% agreed. Fisheries management is so flawed & lacking common sense that its almost comical.

Originally Posted by 1captainron

For Christ sake!! All we want is something to go home with, the laws are screwing every one of us.....While Blackfish are being potted as they come in to spawn, you can't keep any. Flounder at 2 per person and a blackfish closer forced every freaking boat on the coast to target Striped Bass in the Spring...is this good management?
The bass are the next target. When that is taken care of, we will all be off the water or out of business....With all the hundreds of boats that did not participate in the spring fishery because of Sandy, do you think we hurt the bass population? BS.

They give us a 5 fish limit of Fluke at 17 1/2 inches, but you have to kill 30 shorts or more (if your lucky) to achieve this goal. Why not 5 fish 16 inches and over...then your done, you stop the killing and have something to eat for the day.....No, that would put us "OVER Quota" because we actually kept what they said we could! More BS.
Officer Chickatano has a job to do and he has done it well for many years. Unfortunately, he knows the deal what is going on and I believe he feels our pain, but he has to enforce the law as it's written. (Wouldn't be surprised) if he rights a book after he retires about the BS he had to deal with throughout his carrier.
The new comers to this sport are all gung ho with...that's right call them out, these guys are scum who keep a couple fish not in season or a 1/4 inch short but you have to remember, most of the guys who do that are the same guys who respect this sport more than anything, and have lived it all their lives.....does it really matter to the stock the few they bring home?

Open your eyes Fisherman, your rights, your privileges are being taken away and your falling for it. Politically correct in this business is Bullshit.
Go eat your farm raised Tilapia, Salmon or imported Swill Shrimp as the rest of us die with our memories of the past....We didn't create this, the Gov did, just like all the other bullshit shoved down our throats.
Happy fishing!! Capt.Ron

[Fin Reaper]

HEY! Is that a fish in your waders or are you just happy to see me?

Have a family friend that told me last night that their son and four of his college friends were drinking beer and floating around Sparta lake with a couple fishing rods when this guy in uniform on shore starts to blow his horn and wave them over. They all got tickets ( two that had licenses might be waved when they show them). I believe tougher laws are necessary to preserve the fisheries but when your ticketing 4 kids in a row boat on a private lake (that the state does not stock) with two rods and no fish in their possession maybe we are going a bit too far.