NRP Charges Four Watermen with Oyster Violations

Four Eastern Shore watermen were recently charged with state wildlife violations by Maryland Natural Resources Police officers.

A Nanticoke waterman received citations last Tuesday for taking oysters from protected state waters for power dredging in the Nanticoke sanctuary in Wicomico County.

Two officers on patrol at 6:30 a.m. watched as Adam Rodney Antes, 32, entered the sanctuary on his boat, Kimberly Dawn, and began working an area more than 150 feet inside the boundary.

Antes is scheduled to appear in Wicomico District Court on April 7 on charges of unlawful harvesting and operating a vessel without proper running lights. If found guilty, he could be fined a maximum of $3,085.

On Jan. 16, two commercial hand tonging vessels were observed harvesting oysters from the Howell Point-Beacon Sanctuary at the mouth of La Trappe Creek, a Choptank River tributary in Talbot County.

Kevin Steven Tarleton, 45, of Tilghman, was charged with harvesting oysters in a sanctuary and possession of nine bushels of oysters over the daily hand tong limit. Kevin Steven Tarleton Jr., 22, of Tilghman, was charged with harvesting oysters in a sanctuary and refusing to comply with a lawful order.

Daniel Paul Wilson, 20, also of Tilghman, was charged with harvesting oysters in a sanctuary.

Officers seized a total of 51 bushels of oysters and returned them to the sanctuary.

All three men are scheduled to appear in Talbot District Court on March 19. The maximum penalty for harvesting in a sanctuary is a $3,000 fine and a commercial license suspension of six months to one year.