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.

[thethirddegree]

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

Painting SEIU on the boat would have worked too.

[1rudeboy]

How do you say “you ain’t from around here, are you?” in yankee?

"Welcome to Ohio. Now hand over the keys."

[Celerity]

Is anyone trying to say that the boats are “weapons” ? Are they being seized as evidence ?

I suppose as long as they don’t take the guy’s plasma TV, it can be sorta justified. But that’s just kinda wrong. As evidence, right or wrong to me - it’s gonna happen. but as just a way of generating revenue I can definately protest.

[Varda]

They did a great job and it’s worth guarding. Five fish for a limit is OK by me. Many businesses up by the Lake depend on the summer tourists and fisherman for their livelihood. The more people who can enjoy the area the better.

[Dayman]

146 bass is a heck of a lot of fish to catch in 1 day. If the reporting on this story is as accurate as typical newspaper reporting on gun rights issues then I’m very suspicious of the facts that have been presented.

[mikelets456]

Well, lets put it this way.... bluefish, weak fish, etc.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Is anyone trying to say that the boats are “weapons” ? Are they being seized as evidence ?"

Nope...no need to seize them as evidence; the fish would serve handsomely in that capacity. They are being seized as the "instruments of the crime," in as much as they were used in the commission of the crime...kind of like a get away car at a bank robbery, or a cat burglar's lock pick set.

IMHO, it would be like seizing somebody's car for speeding.

[cripplecreek]

Michigan has a 6 billion dollar per year sportfishing industry. You can bet we’re protective of the lakes.

[Vigilantcitizen]

According to a guy I know that does pond management, if a body of water has a healthy population of bass, one should take out 100 pounds per acre of 12”-14” fish per year.

Peacocks probably require more harvesting because they have more time in their prime metabolic temp per season.

[tarheelswamprat]

“All your bass are belong to us!”

[23 Everest]

These guys ever hear about catch & release?

Maybe this wasn’t their first offense too.

[calico_thompson]

I can easily spend $100 per caught fish when I try.

[Onelifetogive]

“Ohio law only allows fisherman to catch five bass fish per day. The men had caught 146”

Obviously not right!

The law allows 5 PER FISHERMAN. That makes 30 for 6 guys. They caught 146 with a limit of 30. Not with a limit of 5.

[Travis T. OJustice]

Bluefish, no, pretty abundant. Weakfish? Pretty frickin rare. I haven’t caught one in 5 years. Fluke, blackfish, cod, bluefin tuna, all face serious stock problems.

There are generally sound reasons for limits.

[Travis T. OJustice]

I can easily spend $100 per caught fish when I try.

That's about where I am at this point in the saltwater fishing season, not including travel and hotels, etc. 3 new rods and 2 new reels for about $1,500 worth of new gear, plus all my new lead pouring tools and supplies.

I plan on getting my cost per fish down to about $20 byt he end of the season. Year right, when the bluefish comee in, they destroy so much gear, but DAMN they are fun.

[indubitably]

It’s an AP story and the reporter is lazy. There are just too many facts missing. The sub-title says that Six Men Caught 141 Fish Too Many. Well, is it 5 fish per boat - or 5 fish per man? The article says it was a fishing trip in April. The men where from Tennessee and Georgia, so was it a one-day trip, or was it a weekend or week-long trip? The men said they thought it was five fish per trip into the water, so were they going out several times a day or once each day over a week. 30 per day X 5 days would be 150 fish ... and they would think they were within that limit. Really bad article.

[hoosierham]

The game wardens in most states have excessive powers and authority;in Indiana they can go onto private property without a warrant if the incursion is related to enforcing wildlife rules.And then report to their agency buddies that there was "x" seen at such a location,where X=any other possibility for law enforcement.

And confiscating the gun,vehicle,and home freezer for illegal venison is nothing new,they did it 25 years ago!

Despite the fact The entire Ohio Valley is overrun with deer.

[jetson]

They need to learn from the Asians. In Calif whether it is fresh water or bay fishing Asians fish in teams. The A-holes
have one or two guys fishing and pass off their take to buddies with licenses around the corner or in the parking lot. Fish and game seem to be blind to this. You can call in a complaint but I’ve never seen anything done about it. Fish and game only busts the white guys who have a fish that is a half inch over or you mishangled the fish.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The ore boat fueling business I managed in the 80s and 90s inherited a 3 acre property on the Cuyahoga River, directly across from a steel mill. Our land had been part of John D. Rockefeller's first or second oil refineries and positively oozed oil. We got the oil movement into the river curtailed but there was so much oil moving on to our property that the little pumps worked more or less continuously. The slop oil was sold to a paving company in Cleveland.
Obviously, refining methods have changed since the early 1900s.

[mikelets456]

I don’t think it is the avid angler that is fishing it out...Commercially, could be? Moving to different areas? Could be...The ocean is an awfully HUGE place and millions of fish are a drop in the bucket.