Quote:
Originally Posted by Jigman13
I recently submitted an email to NJ Marine Fisheries with screenshots of FB groups in New Brunswick showing guys standing behind dozens of illegally caught stripers that I can confirm were also being sold illegally via FB to the communities within New Brunswick. All of the fish were caught below the tidal line on the river, right in New Brunswick.
A few days later I was CALLED by one of officers who patrols Carteret to Asbury Park with ONE other officer. He offered tremendous gratitude. I wound up speaking with him for about 45 minutes. He said the same thing the OP originally posted. They issued over 200 summons this fall for illegal striper harvest, most of which were along the shores of the Raritan Bay from Carteret to Cliffwood Beach with significance in Perth Amboy. However, they were completely unaware that guys were fishing up the river itself as far as New Brunswick.
The conversation was a revelation for both he and I. On my end, they're completely and disgustingly understaffed. On his end, he was unaware of fishing that far up the river in the tidal zone and they're in dire need of our help reporting on such abuse of regulations.
The State needs to step up and direct funding into hiring more officers. A saltwater license wont do it. Closing the bay wont stop them. The State's position and suggestions are asinine. There are funds available. If they say otherwise they're full of shit. We're one of the highest property taxed states in the country. NJ manages one of the best sweetwater fisheries in the northeast but their management of saltwater leaves way too much to be desired.
The officer I spoke to gave me his work and personal mobile numbers and told me to please NOT stop reporting on things like this. And I won't. I'm not a rat, but I love fishing and respect my passion. When I see it abused it turns my gut.
Additionally, it just so happened to be the same officer I spoke to 2 seasons ago when i was back bay fluking from shore. There was a group of guys, maybe 5, bagging up every short fluke they caught and throwing their beer bottles all over the beach. I reported what I saw, received a call back in 10 minutes confirming details and within 20 min the officer was on the beach confiscating their gear and illegal fish, and escorted them off the beach after he made them clean up their garbage. Im sure tickets were issued. He looked down the beach and acknowledged me discretely. It felt good. Shortly after I limited out...
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Jeremy great story and greater work making a difference. Understaffing doesn't come close to describing what marine enforcement has to deal with. The size territories they individually cover are insane. Called twice about violations, in both cases the officer was good enough and grateful enough to follow up with a return call and in both cases summonses were issued.
The issue is funding and coverage. Until the fines support the effort, there's not enough feet on the street. Couple that with the money these *******s make and it won't stop until the penalty outweighs the benefit. Don't know why the system hasn't changed. Confiscate equipment, for that matter confiscate cars and assess penalties guys will choke on and others will think twice about. Include mandatory jail time even though our correction facilities are already maxed out. I don't at all blame the enforcement arm for being grossly understaffed, I blame the politicians and judicial system for allowing that to be the case. This could be self funding if someone put their mind to it. The damage we see I imagine isn't even the tip of the iceberg of what's actually taking place. Closing an area is taking a public resource away from the public and playing right into these idiots hands. If that's the solution, they should close Central Park for the same reason and shut down Newark and Irvington.
The other option is if caught poaching out of season fish or excessively taking more than the legal possession as in this case, we should consider mandatory extraction of the violators index finger on the spot so they won't be able to cast anymore. Do that once or twice and I guarantee the word would spread and the rate of incidents would decline over night.
