Fishermen Fined For Overfishing In Lake Erie

News 5 Cincinnati ^ | 6/11/10 | Cincinnati News

[Howard Morrison]

SANDUSKY, Ohio -- Six fishermen from Tennessee and Georgia will have to pay a high price for violating Ohio fishing regulations.

The men were fined $16,000 and had to forfeit three bass boats, trailers and two freezers full of fish for overfishing in Lake Erie.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Too bad they didn’t want some of the carp - the shores of Lake Erie are swarming with them. You can walk in and scoop ‘em up by hand."

Ever been to the spillway at Pymatuning Reservoir on the PA/OH border?

[Dudoight]

Yeah, I with you! I love that perch...in the fryin’ pan on to my plate!

[Mister Da]

They certainly deserved a fine, but $16,000 is excessive. The forfeitures are just stealing.

All in all, the whole penalty is outrageous at about $500 per illegal fish.

[meyer]

Who the hell would eat fish from that lake anyway? Isn’t it pretty filthy?

Fish from Lake Erie is pretty doggone good. I love the perch!

[Farmer Dean]

Thirty years ago the lake was a mess.It’s pretty clean now.

[meyer]

All in all, the whole penalty is outrageous at about $500 per illegal fish.

Agreed. The punishment FAR exceeds the damages of the crime. It's not like they robbed a bank or hurt anybody. It's fish, for cryin out loud.

[Travis T. OJustice]

Oy. Minimum size of 28”, not 2. Duh.

[Pessimist]

“Isn’t it pretty filthy?”

Nope. In fact it’s pretty clean these days. Also, as the shallowest of the great lakes, it flushes the fastest.

[Pessimist]

Yup!

My parents used to take us there as kids. And I took my daughter when she was little!

[Varda]

Lake Erie had beautiful clear water when I first saw it in the 1980’s. I know it had the reputation of being dirty but that must have been a long time ago.

[cripplecreek]

Thirty years ago the lake was a mess.It’s pretty clean now.

Which leads to the question of why do we need a great lakes czar and what's he doing with a multi billion dollar budget?

[Celerity]

The seizure of the boats are what raises my eyebrows. This is war-on-drugs methodology. Fines, jail time, and public service. As a court, pick one. Seizure of personal property is a voluntary action (As in used to post bail, and then skipping bail). I didn’t think any court could do this.

I could be wrong.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Enormous amounts of money were spent cleaning it up. Sewers, paper mills, steel mills and refineries routinely dumped their wastes into this lake for decades. The water is clean now and supports a great walleye population, which you can see, is well guarded by the bordering states.

[GlockThe Vote]

Exactly. Stealing the boat is ridiculous.

[jagusafr]

I could see catching 146 perch. But bass?
___________

We used to catch well over 100 peacock bass on a fairly regular basis out of Lake Gatun in Panama when we were catching for the Albrook Chapel fish fry. Seemed as though there were never any fewer bass in the lake.

Colonel, USAFR

[cripplecreek]

which you can see, is well guarded by the bordering states.

Well except for Illinois which has the smallest stake and a friend in Washington.

[Dacula]

What has happened to Sportsmanship?

[LearnsFromMistakes]

They just needed to paint “RESEARCH” on the side of the boats and everything would have been OK.

Or, you could paint 'save the whales' on the side of your boat and terrorize them. Don't need no steenking badges...

[Monterrosa-24]

I saw a deer hunter get his car confiscated because he shot a doe during buck season, admited his mistake at the management area check-in station, where he was handcuffed.

Even in Tennessee bureaucrats can be Nazis if we let them.

[Joe 6-pack]

"The seizure of the boats are what raises my eyebrows. This is war-on-drugs methodology."

It's a racket generally known as assett forfeiture.

Some poaching laws are absolutely draconian in this regard.