Keeping four short lobsters cost a Berlin man $800.

[ScubaSarus]

And you have my complete understandings deacapa and I'm glad you brought forward the issue as I would have never known and would have ended up diving with that person again. I may be able to turn cheek on a value or two, but poaching crossed that line and today I don't dive with any of those divers no matter how nice thier boats are (Its a matter of principal ). I think I also pissed off one or two as I never agreed with them face to face.

Unfortunatly these poachers are ruining it for many good naturistic divers out thier.

 

[fisherdvm]

Poaching occurs all the time. My guess is one in 7 do. I fish in a busy river, and you'd see fisherman regularly keep snags, and slightly small fish frequently. They have this slightly guilty look on their face, glance around and see how many are watching, and mumbled something like "got to bring home something!".

I remembered diving in Pennenkamp lagoon last year and found a lobster net next to the wall where the giant lobsters are... Probably got spooked, and threw the net into the lagoon. Who knows how many lobsters were in the net to begin with.

The good thing is still 6 out of 7 people are good sportsman. I try not to pass judgement on poachers... Some have a family to feed, some don't know any different... But some are rich and greedy.

 

[lord1234]

i think the ratio is much batter then that fisherdvm. I know in new england most of the divers I know feel very strongly about taking shorts/eggers/v notch. Most do it out of sheer fear of something like this happening. The EP can confiscate just about anything, car you put the lobster bag into, the boat you took out to get the shorts, etc...People are damn frightened of losing their property/fun.

 

[ONESPEED]

good to hear it. If they where in Fl. it would have been worse.

If they got caught, enforcement has left a little to be desired lately.

 

[TSherman]

The guy knew he was doing wrong; the guy deserved everything he got. I have nothing but contempt for poachers.

Its not so hard to measure ladies and gentlemen! People like this will end up screwing it up for the rest of us! :no

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

I have two reactions to this. First, this guy deserves everything he got, and I'm angry that he made everyone else look bad.

Second, how do residents determine that divers are taking shorts? It sounds like a broad-brush attack, which unfortunately Mr. Gorgone helped to perpetuate.

I'm glad I don't have to dive up there.

Good point. These guys do perpetuate the "divers are up to no good myth".

Usually, all it takes are divers near pots(which we know are the best areas) for calls to be made to EP.

 

[diver 85]

All for a couple pieces of little rubber..............hmmmm......

 

[james croft]

When I hunt or fish I obey the game laws as I am out to have a good time and don't want to be worrying about getting caught or doing anything unethical. I only go with others that feel the same way. Getting a good punishment from the courts sends a strong message to violators. I have no sympathy towards them.

 

[LobstaMan]

I've got no problem with people being punished for violating the law and the punishment here seems to fit the crime. But, I always wonder how many of the commecial guys are keeping shorts, v-notchers and scrapping the eggs off berried females when there's nobody around to enforce the regs? Why do the EPOs sniff around the dive sites when they should be going after the bigger fish(pardon the pun) on the docks? The EPOs can't be everywhere, but why are they spending their time at local dive sites busting some two-bit poacher when they could be grabbing huge fines, seizing commercial boats and licenses down on the peirs? It's like grabbing the drug addicts as they leave the crack house, but never busting the drug dealer running the place.

Maybe the Feds or the EPOs do this kind of enforcement and the local Gloucester paper just doesn't care to print it. Better news if some out of town diver grabs a couple of shorts then print a story about a local fisherman getting grabbed for a boat load.

I'm with Yak, I'd also like to know how the locals know the divers are taking shorts from hundreds of feet away. Maybe people in Gloucester have superior eyesight for those sort of things. But, hey, all it takes is a few bad divers to spoil it for everybody else. Shame on the poacher from Berlin.

I'm sorry, I'm now done ranting......:errrr:

LobstaMan(full legal size)

 

[RIOceanographer]

Why do the EPOs sniff around the dive sites when they should be going after the bigger fish(pardon the pun) on the docks?

Maybe the Feds or the EPOs do this kind of enforcement and the local Gloucester paper just doesn't care to print it.

Your second statement pretty much hits it on the head. The reality is that the commercial boats get way more attention from law enforcement than divers. They are checked routinely when the boats come into port to offload are also frequently boarded at sea. And yes, the Feds are very big part of it, particularly for any boats fishing outside 3 miles.

The National Marine Fisheries Service Office for Law Enforcement (Office for Law Enforcement) is something a diver will almost certainly never have to worry about.