Fishing compliance checks in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties resulted in several tickets for a host of violations.
On July 11, while patrolling Jones Beach State Park around sunset, ECO Smith observed two men using a cast net and a gill net. The Officer watched them from a distance until dark when the anglers packed up their nets and headed back to the parking lot. ECO Smith met the anglers at the parking lot and found them in possession of 300 bait-sized fish including silversides, cunner, 240 Atlantic menhaden (bunker), and two black bass. The daily limit for bunker is 100 per person and the size limit for black sea bass is 16.5 inches. The fishermen’s black sea bass measured 3.5 and 4 inches. Officer Smith ticketed the pair for taking over the limit species, taking undersized species, and failure to carry a marine registry.
On July 15 in Suffolk County, ECO Day observed a woman crabbing on the Forge River. When asked how things were going, she said she was mostly catching small crabs, even showing the Officer one of her catches. ECO Day checked the angler’s cooler and found 28 blue crabs, 27 of which were smaller than the New York State minimum of 4.5 inches. Most of the crabs were still alive and able to be returned to the river. Officer Day ticketed the crabber for possession of undersized blue crabs and failing to return crabs without unnecessary injury. All tickets are returnable to the Suffolk County First District Court.
Also on July 15, Officer Day responded to a complaint of people keeping short fish at Cordwood Landing County Park in Miller Place. While on patrol, the ECO asked to see inside the cooler of a man who claimed he did not catch any fish that day. The Officer discovered 45 porgies, 35 of which were below the required minimum of 9.5 inches when taken from shore, and two black sea bass well under the state minimum length of 16.5 inches. ECO Day ticketed the angler for the undersized porgy and black sea bass, possession of porgy over the daily limit, and failing to carry a valid marine registry. All tickets were made returnable to Suffolk County First District Court.
On July 18 while patrolling the shores of the Hudson River in Westchester County, ECO Tompkins pulled into a popular kayaking launch at the mouth of the Annsville Creek and noticed two men standing in a pavilion with two white five-gallon buckets and a large garbage bag. Officer Tompkins approached the anglers as they moved briskly toward a vehicle driven by a third individual and stopped the group before they took off. The ECO conducted a compliance check and discovered 301 pumpkinseed, 8 bluegill, 3 red breast sunfish, 39 white perch, 5 brown bullhead, 3 Atlantic silverside, a gizzard shad, a golden shiner, and a banded killifish. The fish were all illegally caught with a cast net. The Officer issued the group eight tickets for taking fish by means other than angling, possessing over the daily limit of sunfish, and fishing without a license. All tickets are returnable to the Town of Cortland Court.
