. . . U.S. Coast Guard officials stationed in Ocean City say they are ramping up patrols aimed at nabbing poachers during the annual migration that concentrates striped bass numbers in the waters off the resort town.
The fish prefer cold waters and are traveling south as temperatures cool in the Atlantic from the mouth of Chesapeake Bay to North Carolina, Petty Officer Jeffrey Jonsson said.
They can be found throughout the year in the region, too, often inside the bay and the rivers that flow into it.
Striped bass are legal to catch in Maryland’s coastal waters as long as they’re at least 28 inches long and number no more than two per person per day. But keeping any caught three miles or more offshore is strictly off-limits.
Those accidentally caught must be released as gently as possible, Jonsson said. Anglers who keep them anyway face a civil fine.But policing that line, enacted by federal fishery managers in 1990, can be difficult, officials acknowledge. . .
Yes, enforcement along the line has long been a problem. Lots of commercial and recreational fishermen sneak out beyond the three mile line, and fish, hoping to make it back inside the line before being intercepted by the coasties. And there are a lot more fishing boats out there than there are coastie boats to enforce the rule:
. . . “You can see the guys out there. They’re not really that shy about it,” he said. He gets frustrated when he returns to the dock after a hard day fishing to see stacks of striped bass he knows were caught illegally. . .
Fishing in the Bay, I've been stopped numerous times by the coasties, for whom I have a great deal of respect, even affection. It's good to know they're out. But they've never asked to see a fish I caught (although I've volunteered a couple of times to show off).
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