Authorities in New England arrested a Massachusetts man in July for catching and keeping a key predator from the Atlantic Ocean.
What's happening?
Outdoor Life reported that the poacher illegally harvested 14 oversized striped bass off the coast of New Castle and Rye in New Hampshire.
The poacher was fishing at night without lights on in a boat with a Massachusetts hull number. He fled the scene when other anglers noticed and began to report him for keeping the fish, which ranged from 37-47 inches long.
Though Massachusetts allows commercial boats to keep as many as 15 striped bass over 35 inches, anglers in New Hampshire's waters can only keep specimens between 28 and 31 inches. Furthermore, the state has outlawed any sale of the species.
Officials from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Maine Marine Patrol, Massachusetts Environmental Police, and local police forces began searching for the suspect. Portsmouth Police Department officers located the man at a boat ramp "in the act of ditching the fish," per a Facebook post from the NHFG.
"He knew that he was caught red-handed, and there were a dozen witnesses," Lt. Delayne Brown of NHFG told WMUR. Brown also told the station that the poacher admitted he planned to sell his catch under a permit in Massachusetts, where he could have fetched $1,600 for the 400 pounds of fish.
Why is the poaching of striped bass concerning?
Striped bass, also known as "stripers," serve an important function both environmentally and economically in the region.
According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, they are a top predator that helps keep the populations of smaller fish, crustaceans, and mollusks in check. Stripers are also a popular commercial and recreational fish, generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually for the region.
However, overfishing and pollution during the 1970s and '80s caused the striped bass numbers to dwindle, forcing local legislation to implement regulations as protection.
"Those fish that he killed, those are all big breeding female fish," Peter Whelan, captain and owner of a local charter company, told WMUR. "Some of those fish are 25 years old. They swim back and forth from New Hampshire to Chesapeake Bay … those fish come back to the same spots every year, so we're really trying to protect the resource."
What's being done about poaching?
NHFG has upped its nighttime surveillance following reports of "increased suspicious activity" of anglers attempting to catch striped bass. It also called on civilians to report any suspected illegal activities.
It's an unfortunate development, as poachers continue to try to profit at the expense of crucial and even endangered species. While some agencies are increasing patrol to prevent poaching, others are taking more creative solutions.
Rangers in South Africa's Kruger National Park are using quiet e-bikes to stealthily track poachers, while scientists are injecting nontoxic radioactive isotopes to make rhinoceros horns unfit for human consumption.
Meanwhile, the department noted that the individual had been fined for licensing violations and each of the illegally possessed fish. The striped bass will be donated to a wildlife rehabilitator after he is formally convicted since they could still be needed as evidence in court.
"It would be nice to fillet them up and send them to the food bank, but they're evidence," Brown said.
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