FishNLand.com

Stripers On The Coast
Striped bass should begin running any day now.

New Jersey -(FishNLand.com)- It is almost time for the northeast coastal surf fishermen to absent from normal activities for extended periods of time. Striped bass should begin running any day now. Numbers are already being reported! From North Florida to Maine and all points in between, in daylight and in dark, the fishing beaches will be lined with surf fishermen looking for that huge lineside.

Striped bass, sometimes called rock fish south of New York and New Jersey, make two migrations a year. The first is to their spawning areas far upstream in coastal rivers. Some travel as far as 100 miles upstream to spawn. The second migration is the summer move to more northern climes.

This second migration is what the New England, New York and New Jersey surf fishermen wait for every year. Numerous surf fishing clubs in the Northeast specialize in nothing but stripers. Clubs such as Farragut Striper Club and Jersey Coast Angler’s Association provide news and tips to their members.

Heavy tackle and large lures are the order of the day. Live bait in the form of eels is the preferred bait in many areas. Our Striper page can help you with links to sites with tips and information on fishing for these, the largest members of the true bass family.

About:

Ron Brooks is an experienced fisherman and award winning outdoor writer. If it swims in saltwater, Ron has probably fished for it or written about it at some point during his career. Ron’s column appears at www.saltfishing.about.com/
Experience:
Ron was born in Miami and spent his childhood there and in Key West. He has fished from Maine to California, and most points in between. He is an experienced fisherman, an award-winning outdoor writer and a Coast Guard trained boat captain with over 48 years on the water. He is a member of the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association (GOWA), Florida Outdoor Writers Association (FOWA), and the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association (SEOPA). For the past ten years Ron has won awards in the Excellence in Craft (EIC) competition from the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association. He had the top electronic media story for seven of those years, and the top outdoor magazine article in 2006.

Filed under: Expert Articles, Fish and Game by FishNLand No Comments »

Law Would Intentionally Wipe Out Striped Bass
California -(FishNLand.com)-

Even fishermen who live on the East Coast are likely aware that for the second year in a row, California’s salmon fishery is moribund. One of the main and longstanding reasons for decimation of many of the state’s wild-salmon runs - including those historically with the greatest numbers of fish, from the mighty Sacramento River - is water diversion.

Powerful agribusiness interests have for years persuaded state and federal officials to allow the export of massive quantities of fresh water to huge corporate farms. Even after its own scientists warned the Bush Administration that water diversion would leave great numbers of threatened salmon runs dying in low, warm water, the Administration disregarded the advice and gave its thirsty (and powerful) pals in the big-farm biz the diverted water they wanted. Later that year, guess what? Great numbers of threatened salmon runs died in water far too low and warm for spawning success.

Now, as if intending to prove the bounds of their greed are truly without limit or shame, the same agricultural interests have, via a state assemblywoman by the name of Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield), come up with a bizarre scheme to divert attention from diverted water.

Turns out, it’s not years of depriving wild salmon stocks of critical water for spawning and juvenile growth that are to blame for decimation of the species. The real problem? Striped bass that live in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are eating all the salmon.

Accordingly, Fuller has introduced a wacky but dangerous bill into the State Assembly that would end management of stripers and allow unlimited harvest of one of the state’s great and valued game fish.

Ms. Fuller’s sudden concern for wild salmon is laudable. It’s too bad she couldn’t revise her bill to force greedy agribusinesses and the politicians they own to share some of the water they take from the public domain - the Sacramento River - with the salmon she loves so much.

You don’t have to be a Californian to be outraged at this reprehensible display of avarice. And you don’t have to be a Californian to let your voice be heard. In fact, California lawmakers should hear from all of us and realize that Fuller’s bill is so egregiously misguided that it has opponents chiming in from around the U.S. That’s the kind of message that we should be sending.

The State Assembly’s Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife will hear this bill on April 28th. Time is of the essence; if state lawmakers don’t hear from anglers, this disastrous bill will pass.

Fortunately, you can register your opposition to Fuller’s bill in mere seconds, by going to www.saveourstripers.org where you can read and sign onto a letter (separately, as an individual, business or NGO) instantly. When you have done that, send the link to a friend — or a few. You may also want to visit a web site of folks who, unlike Fuller, are genuinely concerned with saving salmon and not veggies: www.restorethedelta.org.

If we don’t act, and Fuller has her way, California is likely to end up with no salmon, no striped bass, but plenty of cotton and artichokes.

Filed under: Conservation News, Politics of Fishing by FishNLand No Comments »

Commercial Fishermen Plead Guilty To Illegal Harvesting Of Rockfish

WASHINGTON, DC - -(FishNLand.com)- Two commercial fisherman pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, to violations of the Lacey Act, the federal law that prohibits individuals from transporting, selling or buying illegally harvested fish, in this case striped bass or rockfish, the Justice Department announced.

Jerry Decatur Sr. of Stafford, Va., pleaded guilty to a one count criminal information for illegally taking and over-harvesting striped bass. Additionally, Kenneth Dent of Dumfries, Va., pleaded guilty to a one count criminal information for trafficking illegally taken striped bass.

According to documents filed with the court, on at least 13 occasions between 2004 through 2007, Decatur Sr. illegally harvested more than 10,000 pounds of striped bass from the Potomac River. The commercial fisherman fished out of season, kept over-sized fish or used nets that violated applicable regulations. He then sold the catch to two fish wholesalers in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he failed to affix tags to the majority of the striped bass that he caught thereby exceeding their limit by thousands of pounds. In April and May 2003 through 2007, Decatur harvested more than 65,000 beyond his limit. The fair market retail value of the over- and illegally- harvested rockfish was in excess of $329,000.

According to the documents, on multiple occasions, Dent sold hundreds of pounds of rockfish that were illegally harvested or tagged to an undercover special agent with the Virginia Marine Police, who told Dent that the fish were being transported to Pennsylvania. On one occasion, Dent illegally harvested 400 pounds of fish from Virginia tributaries of the Potomac River and sold it to the undercover agent for $990. He knowingly tagged much of the fish with incorrect tags to exceed his limit of Virigina-caught fish. The majority of these fish were also not within the legal size limit. On a second occasion, Dent sold the undercover agent 430 pounds of rockfish for $1000 that were larger than the legal size limit. On a third occasion, he sold the agent 480 pounds of fish for $1,375. All of these fish were more than the legal size limit. The fair market retail value of the transactions was in excess of $5,000. Further Dent illegally sold the undercover agent 100 striped bass tags despite a prohibition against private sales.

Decatur Sr. and Dent both face maximum penalties of up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and three years supervised release for the Lacey Act violations.

Today’s guilty pleas are the result of the investigation by an interstate task force formed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Maryland Natural Resources Police and the Virginia Marine Police, Special Investigative Unit in 2003. The task force conducted undercover purchases and sales of striped bass in 2003, engaged in covert observation of commercial fishing operations in the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River area, and conducted detailed analysis of area striped bass catch reporting and commercial business sales records from 2003 through 2007. The investigation is continuing, and charges against others are possible.

As part of the investigation and prosecution to date, a total of 11 individuals and one company have been charged including today’s defendants. Nine of those have pleaded guilty to wildlife crimes for their involvement in illegally harvesting and trafficking in striped bass. Two fishermen, Joseph Peter Nelson Jr., of Great Mills, Md., and his father Joseph Peter Nelson, of Avenue, Md., are awaiting trial, and one other commercial fisherman is awaiting arraignment and entry of a plea.

Sentencing dates in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt for five Maryland fishermen who pleaded guilty in this case are listed below.

Thomas L. Hallock April 22, 2009 9:30 AM
Charles Quade April 27, 2009 9:30 AM
Thomas L. Crowder April 28, 2009 9:30 AM
John W. Dean April 30, 2009 9:30 AM
Keith A. Collins May 28, 2009 9:30 AM

Cannon Seafood, a Washington, D.C. fish wholesaler, its owner Robert Moore Sr. and his son Robert Moore Jr. are scheduled for sentencing on May 8, 2009, at 9:30 AM in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacy Dawson Belf for the District of Maryland and Senior Trial Attorney Wayne Hettenbach of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section.

Filed under: Fish and Game, Industry News by admin No Comments »