An individual fishing off the coast of Chatham, Massachusetts, U.S.A. was fined USD 2,906 (EUR 2,542) for illegally harvesting commercial striped bass.
According to Massachusetts Environmental Police (MEP), officers first received a report from the U.S. Coast Guard about a suspicious vessel on the morning of 5 August. The Coast Guard suspected the fisher has illegally harvested striped bass on board, and MEP sent out officers to conduct a marine fisheries inspection in Ryders Cover, which resulted in multiple violations.
MEP found 18 striped bass on board despite it being a closed commercial day, with six of the fish under the legal-size limit. Officers concluded that the fisher had landed a double commercial limit for a single day.
Officers seized 324 pounds of fish from the vessel, which were sold for USD 1,863 (EUR 1,629). MEP also issued fines of USD 2,906 to the fisher.
“As a reminder, our officers are out in the field every day enforcing the laws of the Commonwealth that help protect the natural resources we all value,” MEP said in a social media post. “We encourage anyone witnessing a natural resource violation to contact our 24-hour dispatch center.”
