{"id":31190,"date":"2020-08-31T11:09:54","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T15:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=31190"},"modified":"2020-08-31T12:23:58","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T16:23:58","slug":"six-charged-with-striped-bass-violations-following-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2020\/08\/31\/six-charged-with-striped-bass-violations-following-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Charged with Striped Bass Violations Following Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Department Cites Charter Boat Operators<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright \" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/2825\/9400126775_c76d7b44ec.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of NRP patrol boat in action\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" \/>Maryland Natural Resources Police have charged six charter boat operators with multiple fishing violations following a lengthy investigation into the use of prohibited fishing gear. The investigation began in October 2019 in response to tips received by concerned citizens.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">During the investigation, police discovered several charter boats had violated the size and catch limit for striped bass, failed to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/Fisheries\/Pages\/recreational\/circle_hooks.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">use non-offset circle hooks<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> while chumming or live-lining in tidal waters as required in Maryland, and committed other violations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/nrp\/Pages\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Natural Resources Police<\/a> has been working tirelessly to make sure that those fishing for striped bass are following the law. This investigation is in addition to the more than 800 citations written to recreational fishers this season related to striped bass violations.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWhile the vast majority of Maryland\u2019s fishing community is law-abiding and understands the need for our regulations, there unfortunately are those who break the rules,\u201d Maryland Natural Resources Police Col. Adrian Baker said. \u201cOur conservation laws are designed for the protection and sustainability of our resources, and we will stay vigilant to see they are enforced.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Those charged in the investigation are:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Brian Councell, Chestertown, operator of vessel Sea Dux:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Failure to use non-offset circle hooks while live-lining or chumming for striped bass (6 counts)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">James Harris, North Beach, operator of vessel Compensation:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Possessing croaker less than 9 inches total length.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Failure to comply with condition of pilot program permit (two counts)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Possessing more than 15 pounds of fish whose size cannot be determined<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Failure to use non-offset circle hooks while live-lining or chumming for striped bass (6 counts)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Failure to retain carcasses of filleted striped bass until arriving dockside<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Possessing striped bass less than 19 inches total length.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mutilation of striped bass carcass to the extent that the total length or species cannot be determined<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">John Reynolds Sr., Marydel, operator of vessel Retirement Fun:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Possessing striped bass less than 19 inches total length<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Using more than 2 hooks per line while using active line fishing gear (6 counts)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">John Motovidlak Sr., Wittman, operator of vessel Dawn Marie:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Possessing more than 15 pounds of fish whose size cannot be determined<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Exceeding the summer-fall striped bass possession limit<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Failure to use non-offset circle hooks while live-lining or chumming for striped bass (3 counts)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Failure to retain carcasses of filleted striped bass until arriving dockside<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mutilation of striped bass carcass to the extent that the total length or species cannot be determined<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">William Eason, Oxford, operator of vessel Dana-Kat:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Failure to use non-offset circle hooks while live-lining or chumming for striped bass (8 counts)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jesse Bolton, Dunkirk, operator of vessel Wild Goose:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Failure to use non-offset circle hooks while live-lining or chumming for striped bass (6 counts)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Exchanging a striped bass in possession to possess another striped bass (1 count)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If convicted of these offenses, first-time offenders face a maximum fine of $1,000, and second-time offenders face $2,000. Those charged also face the potential suspension or revocation of fishing privileges and removal from the pilot program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2020\/05\/15\/chesapeake-bay-summer-fall-striped-bass-season-begins-may-16\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">recreational summer-fall striped bass fishing season<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> reopens Sept. 1.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Department Cites Charter Boat Operators Maryland Natural Resources Police have charged six charter boat operators with multiple fishing violations following a lengthy investigation into the use of prohibited fishing gear. The investigation began in October 2019 in response to tips received by concerned citizens.\u00a0 During the investigation, police discovered several charter boats had violated the<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2020\/08\/31\/six-charged-with-striped-bass-violations-following-investigation\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,11,14],"tags":[5043,4975,3031],"class_list":["post-31190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-fisheries","category-nrp-news","tag-adrian-baker","tag-maryland-natural-resources-police","tag-striped-bass"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31190"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31193,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31190\/revisions\/31193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}