On August 2, while on patrol in Hampton Bays, ECO McGhee observed two individuals unloading tuna from a recreational sportfishing boat docked at a marina. The Officer approached and spoke to the individual on the vessel who said he worked for the boat’s owner and was unloading the fish to sell to a seafood company. The vessel did not have the required Highly Migratory Species Permit to lawfully sell the catch commercially and was missing other federal fisheries permits. Officer McGhee referred the violations to the National Marine Fisheries Service for prosecution.
On August 16, while on bike patrol along the fishing access sites of Great South Bay, ECOs Anderson and Dickson received a complaint about an angler keeping short fluke and hiding them in his car at Captree State Forest. The Officers responded to the location and observed a man fitting the description fishing off a pier. The ECOs interviewed the angler who initially claimed he had just started fishing for the day before eventually admitting he had been fishing at the location for hours. As suspected, the fisherman opened the trunk of his car revealing four undersized summer flounder (fluke), about five-and-a-half inches smaller than the legal catch size. Officers issued citations for the undersized fish and educated the angler on State regulations for marine fishing.
