Good news re. lobster poacher

[shoupart]

Wow,
I have to wonder if anybody on the Malibu Pier told them it was illegal....

I would imagine catching a big bug in a public place like that would definitely draw some attention, and surely somebody would have told them right there on the spot that it was illegal.

I guess they just chose to ignore it?

 

[chris408]

Probalby ignored it, and probably got others trying to use a hook & line too, thinking they'd catch one too.

And if they were warned, probably not the smartest idea to put the pic on the internet

 

[mike_s]

I doubt that most pole/line fishermen know that it's against the law to catch a lobster by fishing line in California. (Heck I didn't know until I read the thread earlier).

Of course ignorance of the law by the guy in the photo isn't going to cut it in court.

as for why others didn't tell him on the pier, like Chris408 said, they prob were wishing they'd hook one also.


I think the most positive thing that could come out of this is that he gets a small slap on the wrist fine and the newspaper publishes a story about it and how it's illegal to catch them this way. that way there are hopes that the news story will raise public awareness of the law so that this doesn't happen with others.,


In other thoughts... You'd have to have a big dang pot to boil that lobster in!

 

[shoupart]

Well, even if they didn't know that you can't hook-catch them, I would bet that a handful of them certainly knew that they were out of season.

Yeah, some publicity about the lobster rules would be good. once I dove with a guy who came up shouting he'd caught the biggest lobster he'd ever seen. i was excited to check it out, but it was merely just legal size, barely over the minimum. then he said he'd caught 6 more, but they were all tiny.

this guy had no clue about the size limits, and when i gave him a quick lesson, he tried to hedge the rules and make excuses. even when I told him that the DFG could possibly confiscate his gear or his boat, he only threw a few of the smaller ones back.

 

[QQQ99999]

I think the most positive thing that could come out of this is that he gets a small slap on the wrist fine and the newspaper publishes a story about it and how it's illegal to catch them this way. that way there are hopes that the news story will raise public awareness of the law so that this doesn't happen with others.

Well put. This is absolutely true. It's not as if by punishing this poacher (whom I would hope was simply ignorant of the law) is going to improve the management of the lobster population in SoCal unless other people hear about it.

I hope this case warrants at least a little publicity. Once I see at least a mention of it in the press then I will cheer (and hope that it will raise awareness of the issue) rather than simply cheering for the punishment of the poacher (which I only consider to be step one in the process).

 

[jenazah]

I'm just wondering how much is the fine for lobster poaching?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The fine is up to $2700 plus jail time. I found another story of rampant lobster poaching, this time on the Santa Monica pier.
http://www.thelog.com/news/newsview.asp?c=198230

 

[Codyjp]

perp, "dude, so watcha in for?"

other perp, "assult and armed robbery, yaknow the usual"

perp, "me, murder in the first of a lobster, you see, it was fathers day..."

 

[QQQ99999]

The fine is up to $2700 plus jail time. I found another story of rampant lobster poaching, this time on the Santa Monica pier.
http://www.thelog.com/news/newsview.asp?c=198230

Truly disappointing.

 

[ItsBruce]

Here is a legitimate question: If one is fishing and a lobster takes the bait and you reel it in, not knowing its a lobster, what do you do with it? If you're 20 or 30 feet above the water on a pier, do you just toss it back? Is there any way to keep a lobster from taking your bait and getting hooked?