A swimmer with a spear and a boat captain with more than 100 illegal fish on board are just some of things ECOs encountered in this week’s statewide fishing compliance checks.
- On Aug. 8, ECOs Milliron, Pansini, Rappold, and Swart, along with law enforcement agents from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), conducted compliance checks of wholesalers at a fish market in Bronx County. ECOs found one wholesaler selling multiple striped bass longer than the 38-inch maximum commercial length allowable in New York. Officers seized the fish and issued tickets for the striped bass and other observed violations. Later that morning, ECOs Pansini and Rappold donated the seized fish, totaling 240 pounds, to the Bowery Mission. The defendant paid $1,300 in fines.
- On Aug. 11, ECOs Cacciola and Perkins received an early morning call from a Brookhaven Bay Constable reporting three fishermen returning to land at Woodhull Landing Road in the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, in an unregistered vessel and in possession of a significant number of undersized porgies. The ECOs responded to the location and discovered 99 porgies, 91 of which were under the State’s legal size of 11 inches. ECOs issued nine tickets to the three anglers for possession of undersized and over-the-limit porgies.
- On Aug. 11, ECOs Cacciola, Giarratana, and Perkins patrolled Long Island Sound’s Middle Grounds in the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, and performed a compliance check on two people aboard a Connecticut-registered vessel fishing in New York State waters. The pair possessed 14 undersized black sea bass and nine undersized porgies. The size limit for black sea bass in New York is 16.5 inches and 11 inches for porgies caught from a vessel. Officers issued six tickets to two individuals for possession of undersized black sea bass, over-the-limit black sea bass, and undersized porgies.
- On Aug. 11, ECO DeVito stopped to check people harvesting crabs from a bridge in Westhampton, Suffolk County. After checking the crabbers, she noticed individuals with buckets and poles on the other side of the bridge. Officer DeVito inspected the other group’s catches and discovered two men in possession of more than 30 snappers. The legal limit is three per person. ECO DeVito seized the excess snappers as evidence and issued tickets to both individuals returnable to the Town of Southampton Justice Court.
- On Aug. 12, ECO Pabes investigated a suspicious light under water by the M2 bridge while driving on the Meadowbrook Parkway in the town of Hempstead, Nassau County. Once under the bridge, Officer Pabes observed several people standing around the beach looking towards the water and began speaking to them when a swimmer emerged from the water wearing snorkeling gear and holding a spear. The swimmer tried to ditch the spear when he noticed the Officer, but ECO Pabes ordered the subject to retrieve it and then conducted a fishing compliance check. During the check, he located a bag containing 24 flounder and 35 blue claw crabs, all undersized and with spear injuries. In addition, ECO Pabes discovered some of the crabs were egg-bearing, which are prohibited to possess even if legal size. The subject also lacked the required Marine Registry. Officer Pabes ticketed the individual for illegal possession of undersized fish, illegal possession of fish more than the daily limit, illegal possession of undersized blue claw crabs, illegal possession of egg-bearing blue claw crabs, and no Marine Registry, all returnable to Nassau County First District Court. All the fish and crabs were seized as evidence.
- On Aug. 17, ECOs DeVito, McGhee, and Simmons patrolled the east end of Long Island, boarding both recreational and commercial boats in Montauk, Suffolk County. The Officers discovered multiple violations on one commercial vessel including possession of black sea bass and black fish over the daily limit and other violations related to reporting vessel trips. The ECOs seized 150 illegal black sea bass and issued tickets to the boat’s captain for the violations observed, returnable to the Town of East Hampton Justice Court.
- On Aug. 21, a Nassau County man pleaded guilty and paid a fine for taking fish illegally earlier this year. In April, ECO Pabes received multiple complaints about an Island Park resident taking summer flounder illegally throughout Hempstead Bay. On May 5, ECOs Pabes, Kochanowski, and Hilton began investigating the subject as he fished from his vessel. They tracked his movements from Hempstead Bay to his dock in Island Park and then his seafood market in Oceanside. The Officers interviewed the subject who denied any wrongdoing, but ECOs searched the back of his pickup truck and located a cooler containing 19 summer flounder, 17 of which were under the legal size limit of 19 inches. The subject also possessed summer flounder more than the daily limit of 16. Officers charged the individual with unlawful commercial harvest of summer flounder without a permit, unlawful possession of undersized flounder, unlawful possession of summer flounder over the harvest limit, untagged quota-managed species containers, and illegal commercialization of fish, all returnable to Nassau County First District Court. ECOs seized all the fish and donated them to a wildlife rehabilitator in Massapequa. The Island Park resident pleaded guilty to all charges at his arraignment and paid a total of $700 in fines and court fees.
- On Aug. 31, ECO DeVito discovered several violations on a boat in Montauk, Suffolk County, while conducting compliance checks on recreational vessels returning from all-day fishing trips. While inspecting the vessel, Officer DeVito learned the subject on board did not have a Marine Registry and possessed 18 black sea bass, four fluke, and four porgies, all undersized and over the daily limit. She also discovered one out-of-season blackfish. ECO DeVito issued multiple tickets to the subject for the violations, returnable to the Town of East Hampton Justice Court.
