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Fluke Poacher

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bido

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125 tons. Assuming avg. weight of 3 lbs that's about 84,000 illegal fluke.

I could limit out fishing every single day, for 46 years straight, and still not catch that much.:mad:

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Something stinks in the fishing business — and it isn’t the fish.

That may be one take-away from a recent sentencing of a Long Island fisherman, who was charged with illegally purchasing 125 tons of fluke. The illegally-purchased fluke carries a street value of more than half a million dollars, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

That’s a lot of sushi!

On Wednesday, the federally licensed New York City fish dealer in question, Alan Dresner, netted himself four months in prison for one count of wire fraud in connection with the purchase of the fluke, according to court records.

Dresner’s sentencing is part of a broader crackdown by the NOAA’s law enforcement division and the U.S. Department of Justice to catch crooked fisherman, who have been taking advantage of federal fishing programs to reel in boatloads of extra cash.

In Dresner’s case, the wholesaler, who buys fish from commercial fishermen and then sells them to other vendors, was charged with buying fluke from a Long Island-based fisherman, who is accused of using his participation in a federal program as a cover to systematically underreport catches of illegally-harvested fluke, according to court documents. The illegal fishing occurred over a three-year period, according to the DoJ.

In the highly-regulated world of fishing, there are federal rules that restrict the number of days and the quantity of fish that fishermen can catch. some fishermen, however, have been found skirting the rules by under reporting the amount of fish they’ve caught. That runs afoul of the federal program.

Illegal fishing occurs to varying degrees across the U.S. Under reporting catches can lead to the depletion of fish populations, threatening their long-term viability, notes the NOAA.

It’s unclear how widespread this problem is, but the DoJ is taking the matter of illegal fishing seriously, people familiar with the matter told MarketWatch.

The fisherman, who is said to have sold Dresner the illegally-caught fluke, Anthony Joseph of Levittown, N.Y., was a participant in the Federal Research Set-Aside Program, court documents show. Members of the Set-Aside program pay a fee for the privilege of catching more than their fish allotment. The membership fees are meant to go toward scientist who work to maintain the sustainability of fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound.

Joseph is accused of failing to report catches in excess of his daily fish quota, when confronted by authorities, according to a sentencing memo filed by the prosecutors.

Joseph’s lawyer declined to comment to MarketWatch. Joseph has already pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of falsifying federal records. He’s set to be sentenced in May 2015.

Prosecutors had pushed for a 30-month prison term for Dresner.

“We’re relieved that the court decided not to impose the [maximum] guideline sentence,” said Maurice Sercarz, Dresner’s lawyer. “But this marks the end of Mr. Dresner’s career as a commercial fisherman.”

The illegal fishing investigation has resulted in the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council voting to temporarily discontinue the Set-Aside program earlier this year.

"Where is my mind?  Waaaaay out in the water see it swimming?"
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Where are the idiot(s) feedbacks and comments on this thread?? LoL

 

Anyway 4 months for tons of illegal fish?? Wtfreak!!?

 

FYI lot of these fishermen are indirectly protected by ours truly.. Politicians.

Got to make it out to that ballot and vote these stupid azz clowns out of their offices before we start to see some real penalties and jail time for these MOFOs.

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The only way to put an end to this kind of greed is to hit them where it hurts most. The wallet. The fine for a recreational fisherman taking an undersized marine fish is $54. Multiply that by 84,000 fish. By the time the second poacher gets caught, word will be out that you do something like this you are financially F*&^%$ for life.


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