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TheAmagansettCaster

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Could be old news so I apologize if already posted..

 

NBC4 Washington

 

Fisherman Gets Prison for Illegal Harvest of Almost 200,000 Striped Bass

 

Michael D. Hayden (not pictured) was sentenced for playing a part in illegal fish harvesting of striped bass.

 

A Maryland fisherman has been sentenced to a year and a half in prison for his role in the illegal harvesting of nearly 200,000 pounds of striped bass.

 

Prosecutors said Michael D. Hayden, of Tilghman Island, Maryland, was sentenced Friday in federal court in Baltimore.

 

Hayden will be required to spend six months on home detention after completing his prison sentence. He has been ordered to pay nearly $500,000 in restitution to the state as well as a $40,000 fine.

 

Hayden acknowledged as part of a plea deal that from at least 2007 to 2011 he and co-conspirators illegally harvested 185,925 pounds of striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay.

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That's the plea bargain amount of bass they illegally harvested - it was probably many times more than that :( Was a big group if I remember correctly - only one guy got jail time? The rest would likely be back out there, hard at work, trying to supply affordable protein to the masses at $25/lb and poaching whenever possible :o

 

TimS

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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Progress, nevertheless! Vs. their previously toothless penalties for guy like this when caught in past...

 

1.5 yrs. in jail... & 6 months home detention thereafter... and, 540K in penalties?

 

Progress! Go get them (more), DEC/ enforcement! His buddies saying, "he did nothin' wrong!" :rolleyes:

 

Poaching is as responsible for Striper stocks being so down, as anything!

 

And as TimS says, for what-- so we get $25./ lb fillets, in Gourmet stores? (see other Thread here in Main Forum about Poaching! "Where are the majority of Bass..."

 

:dismay: )

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The last place you should look for justice is the justice system :confused:

That's like saying the last place you should look for pizza is a pizza place :) The only justice we can expect comes from the justice (legal) system. The reason why a lotta fisheries stuff seems to get real lenient 'deals' like this, I suspect has to do with the public prosecutors not being overly motivated to make a large number of organized commercial fishermen with a lot of political clout in a lot of states real angry with them. There's no upside to playing hardball and putting these criminals out of business once and for all....at least not for them. Public prosecutors looking for political favor are just politicians in the making...future legislators perhaps? Just guessing :)

 

If these folks had stolen those fish from, say the IRS - they'd all be in jail, they'd never be allowed to commercially fish again and they'd be paying millions in restitution, fines, interest, fees, etc. But they only stole them from the public - and our representation isn't nearly motivated enough to do what needs to be done regardless of the fact that it would anger commercial fishermen and their politically significant lobbies.

 

TimS

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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It was not the one guy.

If you google the whole article you will find out that most of the comms in the village do the same and they see nothing wrong with it too.

To them it is ridiculous he got a prison sentence for "just a fish"

Then I should hope the local LEO's are watching the rest of the comms in the village very closely and hopefully we'll see a few more professional poaching operations shut down in the near future :th:

 

TimS

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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Let me give you some quotes:

 

They (other waterman on Tilghman Island) are upset that this fourth-generation islander and chief of the volunteer fire department will be serving a year and a day behind bars for pursuing his livelihood. Neighboring families can't recall anybody ever going to prison "just for catching a fish."

 

I don't know what the state of Maryland is trying to do," said Johnny Haddaway, 78, a third-generation waterman whose house sits in the shadow of the island's drawbridge. "They are trying to get rid of watermen is what they are trying to do

 

In country stores and on the docks, the poaching case is the talk of Tilghman Island, where the tight-knit community of watermen has long butted heads with authority. Says Lednum, "I've got support from all over, even across to the Western Shore. I can't ask for no better."

 

As the watermen approached their nets — which had been set well before the season opened and in a way outlawed in Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake Bay — they noticed an unlit boat waiting. It was the Natural Resources Police.

 

Hayden took over the controls from Lednum and chargedafter the boat as the others retreated to the cabin. The men, who had known Hayden for years, realized there was nothing they could do to calm him. Interfering would only make things worse.

 

Hayden "began shouting general indignities" at the police officers, according to court records. Another witness said he made an obscene gesture.

 

Eventually, Lednum took control of the boat. "If Billy hadn't grabbed the wheel from Mike, I think Mike would have rammed that NRP boat," Murphy told a federal official, according to court records.

 

After state officials assessed the damage, they suspended the season for nearly three weeks and eventually cut the overall quota for all watermen by 5 percent. Officials said it was the only time that a single poaching event had led to such restrictions.

 

Around Tilghman Island, many people believe the investigation and prosecution of Lednum and Hayden were excessive.

 

Ronnie Reiss, 32, known locally as "Reissy Cup," lives about a mile north of the island's drawbridge. On a recent day, while repairing a pair of oyster hand tongs outside near a couple of dead geese, Reiss did not hesitate to share his thoughts about Lednum's and Hayden's anchor netting.

 

"What they were doing, there is nothing wrong with it!" Reiss said. "Every other state does it, why can't we?"

 

Some watermen said the prosecution of Lednum and Hayden masked a larger problem.

 

"They weren't the only ones catching fish with an [illegal] net," said Haddaway, who had just come in from oystering and was sitting in an enclosed porch decorated with black-and-white pictures of the old Tilghman Haddaways, descendants of those who fought in the Civil War. "They were all doing it all along the bay."

 

Haddaway said he also had anchor nets out in the water on the day that Natural Resources Police made their discovery off Bloody Point.

 

Hayden and Lednum say 10 to 12 other boats had unattended nets in the area before the 2011 season opened. Hayden said that's why residents were not upset with them: "Everybody was doing it! Why would you argue if everybody is doing it?"

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  • 1 year later...

Followup, per a story on Delmarvanow's website:

 

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources said that Michael D. Hayden Jr. and William J. Lednum, both of Tilghman Island, have received lifetime revocations of their striped bass privileges and have been suspended from all commercial fishing activity for the next year, followed by a four-year probationary period in all other fisheries. Their striped bass allocations are being returned to the commercial fishery allotment.

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Followup, per a story on Delmarvanow's website:

 

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources said that Michael D. Hayden Jr. and William J. Lednum, both of Tilghman Island, have received lifetime revocations of their striped bass privileges and have been suspended from all commercial fishing activity for the next year, followed by a four-year probationary period in all other fisheries. Their striped bass allocations are being returned to the commercial fishery allotment.

Outstanding! :clap: :clap: :th: :th:

 

It's about time one of these poaching operations was shut down for real. I sincerely hope they also received enormous fines considering how much their apprehension and prosecution has cost taxpayers. Hopefully they won't just change the species they poach.

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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Yes, to answer your ? TimS--  they will just go "catch" (i.e., poach) a different species! (Or, more Rock if no one is looking I'm sure...)

 

Why were they permitted still to fish--  commercially--  at all? They haven't proven enough by now...  that they don't play by the rules?

 

 

For this kind of egregious offense--  you should lose your boat/ nets/ etc,  & all future rights to sell fish!

 

 

Our fish! All of ours!  These jack- nuts think, they are their fish! (For no better reason than,  they can net them! With boats/ nets possible only through bank loans...  the latter possibly who is behind keeping scum like this,  still fishing/ earning? Even after caught red- handed?)    

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