Posted on 02/26/2007 6:25:02 PM PST by devane617
Max Mayfield, the former director of the National Hurricane Center, is under investigation by his former employer for possibly violating fishing laws.
Mayfield caught a 200-pound Goliath grouper while fishing with friends in the Gulf of Mexico a few days after his retirement Jan. 1. The boat captain and crew slid the grouper into the boat through a door in the back, unhooked it, snapped a few celebratory photos and slid it back into the water. It swam away.
Such photographs are common fare in fishing magazines, but since Goliath is protected species bringing one into the boat is illegal, even if just for a few minutes. Doing so can damage a protective slime the covers the fish.
Mayfield, 58, said Monday he had no idea he had done anything wrong until newspapers published a photo of the catch and someone complained to the National Marine Fisheries Service, a branch of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, which also oversees the National Hurricane Center.
“I love to fish, but I haven’t done any in a long time. I don’t know the rules,’’ Mayfield said. “Nobody on that boat knew the rules.’’
Tracey Dunn, who oversees federal fishing enforcement in Florida, declined to discuss specifics of Maxwell’s grouper because it is under review by the fisheries service general counsel.
Sanctions can range from a written reprimand to a civil fine.
Though lack of knowledge about rules is not a defense, Dunn said, federal agents often focus their investigation more on a boat captain, or other experienced fishermen rather than on an inexperienced client.
The boat in question was the 34-foot Bud&Mary, owned and captained by Richard Stanczyk, who operates a marina in Islamorada. He says he has fished the Keys for 29 years and never heard that putting a Goliath temporarily in the boat is illegal.
Stanczyk holds a charter captain’s license but said he rarely takes out clients. Mayfield is a friend, Stanczyk said, and the trip was for fun, not hire. Mayfield’s son and three others also went along. Mayfield tied into the Goliath west of Key West.
“My boat has a tuna door in the back. When you open it, you can slide the fish through,’’ Stanczyk said. “He was laying in water. We took a few hooks out of him and let him go in better shape than when we found him.’’
Stanczyk said he is embarrassed for Mayfield, a familiar face for years as he interpreted storm data on national television from the hurricane center.
“A great debt is owed to him.’’ Stanczyk said. “For those of us living in the Keys, we live and die with hurricanes approaching and we relied on him.’’
BUMP
You talkin' groupers or groupees?
I've been a saltwater fisherman for years, and didn't know this.
I know a fellow who used to be a charter-boat captain out of Crystal River, Florida. He made his living mostly by guiding clients to fish for grouper over hard bottom structure in the Gulf. He claimed that the Jewfish (proper name for "Goliath Grouper") got so bad (as in, eating the hooked groupers while the clients were attempting to reel them in), that he had to resort to the following strategy:
His son would don scuba gear, tie one end of a heavy 50-foot chain to a stern cleat, and put a large shark hook on the other end. He'd descend down to the reef, stick the hook in the Jewfish's jaw, and get back aboard the boat. The captain would then tow the fish about 20 miles away, and they'd unhook it. He had to do this several times.
Jewfish are enormous. The one shown in the photo above is a runt. My captain friend used to bet his clients $50 or $100 that they couldn't reel one in. No one ever won the bet.
I would go out and buy a Gas outdoor Fryer and have a nice Fish Fry with that.
Of course I would grill some of it too.
"All I can say is that is 200lbs of good eating laying on that deck"
Good, but not as good as a Scamp or Gray grouper.
If you look carefully at the photo you can see the fish is in a shallow puddle.
I thought Goliath was killed by a Jew named David...if I was a Philistine or somebody suffering from gigantism, I'd be deeply insulted by the new name...
Unless he changed his shirt for the picture.
A 200 pound grouper will cause even the staunchest Jedi to cross over to the dark side.........
Life in prison is the only punishment worthy of this crime.
So why are these fish protected?
Except for this statement in the article:
Doing so can damage a protective slime the covers the fish.
"Waiter - I'll have the Cajun blackened Goliath grouper - extra slime, please."
I don't know if I have had Gray Grouper, if its on sale in Publix, they just call it Grouper.
It is worse today. They have classes you can attend, and those schools give the test.(not the Coast Guard) They know what to teach that will be relevant to the test.
(I took my test at the CG after home studying.)
I would recommend any Freeper interested in the 6 pack license to go to a Captains license school. Home study is very time consuming. The schools focus the students on the vital subject matter. - tom
You cut the line (and in theory, the hooks will eventually rot away. From the story that said they removed "several hooks" before releasing it, is was possible that others had cut it loose before and the fish was likely better off than before they caught it.
I don't think they were handing out 6 pack licenses exactly like penny candy. I sat for the test back in '83, I remember studying like hell for it. It wasn't easy. I passed it no problem, but there were a lot of people who routinely failed that test back then.
Could be there were some who lied about their sea time, but that probably continues today.
My understanding is that now that the test is in the hands of schools rather than the USCG, the pass rate is higher, as the schools are invested in having the students pass.
Thanks for the ping, 2J.
I've caught a few jewfish over the years (as they were known up until very recently). They're great eating, even over 300 pounds. They have been completely protected for a while now and my understanding is that you are not supposed to remove them from the water. I think well of Mayfield, so I hope this incident is forgotten soon.
Funny that some official agency or other can just announce a name change for a fish, since there is really no authority for that (from jewfish to goliath grouper) and the people will just follow along like sheep...since that's not how the fish was named in the first place, I don't think.
He should have sent it home C.O.D.
I was talking about late 60's through most of the 70's. (I guess that is more than 30 yrs ago. SHEESH) I could be wrong, but if CG passenger boat inspections are any indication, I think which CG Dist. you were in may play into it as well.
Actually, the paint now used on tactical vehicles, including tanks is called "carc". It's a type of paint thats mixed with a resin, and it turns out about as hard as epoxy. Quite expensive too.
I could use some carc on my mini van. That would keep all the carts from scratching it us in the grocery store parking lot!
:)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.