Striped bass fishermen on the New Hampshire Seacoast have been enjoying a great summer striper fishery thanks to big schools of baitfish known as pogies (menhaden) that have drawn in striped bass to 50 pounds. Unfortunately, the excellent fishing has also attracted poachers from across the border looking to sell striped bass in Massachusetts.
On Monday, July 15, New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation Officers teamed up on the coast with Massachusetts Environmental Police Officers to investigate suspicious activity in New Hampshire waters. New Hampshire has regulations that allow for the recreational take of striped bass (currently 1 fish per angler, 28 to less than 31 inches), but Massachusetts also has a commercial quota that allows permitted vessels to harvest more and larger striped bass (15 fish over 35 inches per vessel) in their state’s waters.
Officers worked throughout the night, and by Tuesday morning, multiple offenders were apprehended in New Hampshire waters with evidence of taking striped bass to fill quotas in Massachusetts.
As a result of the efforts, officers seized evidence, including fish and equipment, to prosecute the pending charges which include overlimits of fish, oversized fish, and the use of gaffs. Further investigation is underway as the two states work together.
Although the bust was well publicized on social media to deter would-be violators, at around 3 pm on Tuesday, July 23, tips started flooding in through direct calls to New Hampshire’s coastal conservation officers and through the NH Operation Game Thief tip line reporting that a single boat with a Massachusetts hull number was catching and keeping oversized striped bass off the coast of New Castle and Rye.
The boat in question fled the area in an unknown direction after multiple anglers yelled that they were calling Fish and Game. New Hampshire Fish and Game Officers began searching for the boat and included Maine Marine Patrol, Massachusetts Environmental Police, and local police to BOLO (be on the lookout) for the suspect vessel and operator. Portsmouth Police Department successfully located him after he had loaded his boat onto a trailer and was in the act of ditching 14 oversized striped bass ranging from 37 to 47 inches.
NH Fish and Game officers conducted a thorough investigation and lengthy interview with the individual. Caught red-handed, he confessed that his intent was to sell his catch under his commercial striped bass permit in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Please report natural resource violations! In New Hampshire, contact Operation Game Thief (OGT) at 800-344-4262 or use the app found at nhogt.org.
Commercial fishermen in Massachusetts continue to deplete the Breeding population of
stripers. How can their quota of 15 fish per day over 35″ be sustained to the detriment of the recreational fishermen? Totally bogus.
Name and shame. Lifetime ban from commercial fishing licences.
I agree with Eric-splatter his name and photo of his boat all over social media.
They seriously need to do a sting operation in the Plymouth, MA area. Been watching Comm boats, “Not All”, but a sh@t load of fishermen have been gaffing undersized fish, only to toss them back to die, because they didn’t reach the size. It’s been absolutely disgusting watching it happen. If ya say something, they get pretty nasty. Never see any EPOs. NO gaffs should be allowed on a comm boat.
Gaff is an important tool for both recreational and commercial fishermen. It’s useful for control massive bluefish, halibut, tuna and dogfish. It also saves lives to free your propeller from lobster pot lines or grab onto objects during boat emergencies. Can a net do that? I like your thinking but it’s bias and full of ignorance.
We all love big fish, the guidelines for 15 fish over 35 is a slap in the face to recreational fishermen who follow the rules up and down the coast.
nice job catching this p.o.s. we all know what a striper looks like, how bout showing us a pic of this a-hole. Public shaming goes a long way !!!! Ban commercial greed and save the species!!!!!!!!
Greed wins out over following the rules. One commercial fisherman caught, big deal. How many more were more discreet and cheated to a payday? Time to ban commercial fishing for stripers.