RI poaching problem

[StriperHound]

I have had it with the lack of enforcement we currently have in Rhode Island. This past weekend along with many other weekends the past month there has been a pretty good striper bite at Beavertail for shore bound anglers. The problem is that most of the fish being landed and kept are sublegal fish. I was down at Beavertail last evening and as I walked up over the bluff I saw a mid 20's asian gentleman landing a small bass. I have witnessed this person keeping illegal fish several times in the last few weeks along with his friends. I walked up and struck up a conversation with him as he was putting a rope through the fishes gills to keep the fish. I made the comment that the fish was a short fish and needed to be let go. He said to me his tape measure was broken and that the fish was legal. I loved the my tape measure was broken comment as he is standing there holding a sewing tape measure, the kind that rolls up in your hand, no working parts just numbers. I took out my tape and measured the fish for him 25". He then went down to the water and let the half dead bass go. This guy was walking around with a $500 Vanstaal reel, $300 surf rod and $250 Aquaskinz Jacket it is obvious he has more money than he has brains. The other problem Im seeing on a daily basis is people leave in the morning with a limit of fish only to return in the afternoon to take another limit. The problem is so bad down at Beavertail if the DEM had just one officer to work the park they could write several tickets a day for this location if not more. What gets me is that there is a new DEM facility in Jamestown and in the 4 years of me living there I have never seen a officer even drive through the park. Not wanting to just gripe about our problems I want to offer a solution. The state should start a deputy DEM program. Individuals interested in furthering the conservation efforts and protection of our fish and game could get deputized and have ticket writing powers only. Other states have tried this and been successful as a volunteer staff suplements the work our DEM officers do on a daily basis and gives the DEM more coverage. Until we can do this the only other solution is to expose these violators by calling the DEM and reporting them as well as using the internet forums to offer descriptions of them and confronting them when it makes sense to. What does everyone else think?

[GAMDORE]

------------------------------------edited-----------------------------------------

:: sorry for being "pinpoint(?). it was becuase the person was described as a "asian gentlemen" and I did not want Asian people to get those kind of reputation anywhere in the world.::

I believe this strongly. The only solution to this problem that you have mentioned is not words, but proper action. The guy does that, screw him and call whatever number it is to the authorities. It is not the fact that it is "one fish." but it is really disturbing that people with those kind of "thoughts/mentality" are ruining a perfectly pleasant day of a sports fisherman.
Take pictures of the person doing it; both of them! take their license plate numbers down. and just hand them over.
Some people are so dumb, that "civilized conversations" do not work and the only way to do that is to smack them in the face.
Literally, it wouldn't be worth your time to waste intelligent conversation with them.


sigh----next time I place a post in this reel time forum will be when I finally finish "moving." So many of you have helped me here+and so many people here were kind. I wanted to wait untill I was in Boston to start using the Posts here, but this post I just read angered me a bit. Mike, in case you are reading this, I haven't forgotten about you! (Mike with the whaler)

continued: I am not angry about your post striper, I am just upset about people that are poaching. Its really simple. the rules. aren't they? "keep certain fish certain size and certain amount." its really really simple. but some people......: ugh :
that deputy program you mentioned sounds really nice striper. But how does one manage to do that? it sounds like allot of paperwork and one thing I know about paperwork & government agencies. is......."ugh ugh and more ugh."
and--------!
Hey striper! Wanna go fishing sometimes? I tried to PM you but it said that your PM option was turned off. if we see a poacher, we can ask kingfisher to tae-kwon-do chop that son of a mom, and I'll be taping it all! "FLY FISHERMAN TKO'S LOCAL POACHER!" admin, do you think that video can go on the video post here?
and--Well, this was not "placing a post but 'editing' a post," so I figured it was ok for me to answer your question using the same post twice.

[dusty]

I've been seeing the same thing on Cape Ann. Groups of guys bait fishing (nothing against it but this particular bunch are a bunch of idiots) keeping every fish that they catch. No enforcement save for people like me having to threaten calling the police. It's only then that the fishermen seem to miraculously understand Engilsh. Not only are fish being kept that are undersized, and there are too many being kept per person, but the shore is getting trashed too. Where is the environmental police??? I have never seen these guys enforcing fishing regs, only speeding and boat registration. What gives?

[StriperHound]

Gadmore,

Thanks for your candid response. One question for you, what angered you about my post. Sorry if I was not clear my goal in putting this in writing was two fold. First build some response so I can pass along to the DEM and institute some change for the better. Second a little bit of self policing if someone knows this guy they educate him so it stops. Along with this case and others I have witnessed in the past few week, I do just what you say. Make a call or stop by the DEM with descriptions of individuals and cars and license plates in the hopes that our DEM does something. I just brought it to this forum to build some response and faciliate some positive change not to gripe about it.

[kingfisher]

I am a fly fisher from Korea too. I think it is misleading that Korean/Japanese are all grown from the culture of "take everything you catch". Althought it is a fact that there are not too much regulations in sport fishing in those countries, however it is not right to point that without mentioning the background of why. In those too much populated lands, most of them do fishing on pay basis in privately managed water for stocked fishes on pay basis. However there are number of fly fishing groups who go to wild streams and rivers. I know they keep the "catch and release" rule from their hearts. I know of many fly fishers who removed the barb in their hooks to increase the surviving chance of the fish thery release. They pay extra cash to buy an extra soft net that hurts fishes less. Lots of the fly fishers nuturally become environmental activists advocating conservation of those fish habitats.

I eat sashimi and sushi however, personally I am not interested in keeping or eating fishes I catch. For eating, I like tuna and cod which are abundant in grocery stores much better than trout(especially stocked ones that have the liver taste), striper or even worse taste of blues. I kept only one fish this year (a 37" striper) just to give to my neighbor who once told me that she knows a secret recipe with striper.