More Illegal Nets Discovered

Two more nets containing striped bass found; reward now at $10,000

By Candy Thomson, The Baltimore Sun
5:49 p.m. EST, February 8, 2011

Natural Resources Police patrol boats Monday found two more illegal fishing nets in the waters south of Kent Island and seized another half-ton of striped bass. The agency also announced that the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the poachers who have netted more than 10 tons of fish has increased to $10,000...

...Investigators believe the newest net may have been deployed by poachers after the initial discovery of illegal nets, said Col. George Johnson, superintendent of NRP.

"It's beyond comprehension," Johnson said. "This is a blatant disregard for our regulations and our resources."...

The $7,000 reward offered last week by the Department of Natural Resources was augmented yesterday by $2,500 from the Humane Society of the United States and a total of $500 from the Maryland Watermen's Association and the Maryland Charter Boat Association. In addition to the $5,000 in seed money from the state, other contributors are the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Coastal Conservation Association Maryland.

I don't see why it's beyond comprehension.  A few tons of striped bass pay very well, and so far all the poachers have lost is some netting and time.  Time they have lots of.   One thing I have not seen mentioned here is where the stripers are going?  Watermen aren't eating them all, that's for sure.  They may be hard to catch on the water, but they have to sell the fish to make it pay.  The state should also be looking hard at the wholesale brokers for fish.  Somebody, somewhere is moving a whole lot more fish than can be accounted for from the legal harvest.  Somebody should be checking their sale records against what the watermen report they're selling to them.