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As New Jersey fishing laws increase, so do arrests
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ATLANTIC CITY - Brett Nicklow observed suspicious and probably illegal activity here in the inlet section off Melrose Avenue this summer.
One man was handing what Nicklow suspected was illicit contraband to another man, who ran it back to a parked vehicle on Melrose Avenue and returned to the rock jetty for another pick-up. It happened over and over.
Could it be drugs? Maybe it was a numbers runner taking bets.
Nicklow, a conservation agent with the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, moved in and confronted the runner, Vincent C. Ngo, of Maple Shade. Nicklow was not even slightly surprised to find the illicit material was a fish, known as tautog.
Until recently, this July 25 case would have been considered unusual for a conservation agent. Now, it's pretty common. In fact, Nicklow staked out the inlet jetties two days later and made another arrest for possession of illegal tautog.
Tautog is one of the top recreational fishes in the mid-Atlantic, but the catch limit at the time Nicklow was staking the jetty was one fish per day.
A larger trend is under way. State conservation officers are making more arrests for violating fishing laws either for profit or just to take more fish home to eat, according to Capt. Mark Chicketano, of the division's Bureau of Law Enforcement.
"It's getting worse. Is it a product of our general lawlessness in society? I don't know. I think it's an inherent lack of faith that our regulations mean anything," Chicketano said.
The bureau's Marine Region Headquarters gives a report at each meeting of the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council.
The reports used to include a handful of cases that took a few minutes to summarize. But at the Sept. 3 meeting, it took much longer for Chicketano to present the two dozen cases of illegal fishing since the last meeting two months earlier.
It didn't even include the fishermen caught Sept. 6 - three days after the meeting and two days after summer flounder season ended - with 47 summer flounder in their possession. That may be one key to what is going on. An early end of summer flounder season was highly unpopular. Chicketano noted when he started in 1983 there was no summer flounder season, and now there is a season, a size limit and a bag limit.
"There're more and more regulations. People don't believe in it anymore. They're so disgusted with it," Chicketano said.
Striped bass may be an exception. Many fishermen credit strict regulations with restoring stocks, and Chicketano said they see few striper violations.
Chicketano could understand if the bad economy was leading people to violate fishing laws to eat, but he said many of the violators have nice boats and cars. Some are in it for the money, especially with tautog and black sea bass, since both command high prices from the Asian restaurant trade in the New York City.
"We sit and watch at the Point Pleasant Canal (in Ocean County) and find an 80 percent violation rate with (tautog)," Chicketano said.
The July 25 Atlantic City case hasn't gone to municipal court yet. Nicklow charged Ngo with having 15 tautog under the 14-inch size limit as well as possessing 14 tautog above the daily bag limit of one fish per angler per day.
Ngo allegedly was getting the fish from an angler or anglers fishing on the jetty and running the fish to his vehicle on Melrose Avenue. Nicklow was working alone and was not able to arrest the anglers.
Violations for profit are not the only problem. A general disregard of the regulations among those fishing for sport was found during an Aug. 8 sweep on the Raritan Bay, where agents conducted 330 inspections of recreational fishermen and clammers. They issued 44 citations.
Recent violations include several in which people hid illegal fish in compartments in their boat, in a bucket tucked in vegetation near the Barnegat Inlet jetty and, in the case of a commercial lobsterman, hidden in a locked floating fish tote. Chicketano said he has caught anglers hiding fish in their pants and their waders.
"They know the law," Chicketano said.
Violations typically include taking undersized fish or crabs, catching more than the daily bag limit, fishing out of season, illegally selling to restaurants, not having the proper licenses, violations of filleting laws, harvesting in condemned waters, clamming on Sundays and using illegal nets.
The violations can bring fines as high as $10,000 and loss of certain fishing privileges. Several party boats are facing loss of their filleting privileges for summer flounder for filleting undersize fish. They are supposed to keep what's left, the rack, to prove the fillet came from that fish. They don't always match up.
"We have six cases of fictitious fillet racks (this year). We've had 63 summonses for flounder parts," Chicketano said.
Part of the trend is fueled by more fishing regulations and more enforcement agents. When Chicketano started in 1983, only a few species were regulated. There wasn't even a minimum flounder size then. Now, just about every species is regulated and seasons open and close, often several times per year for the same species. It can be confusing.
There were also just four marine agents in the state in 1983. Now there are 10 conservation officers in the field under Chicketano plus two lieutenants, Lt. Dominick Fresco and Lt. Mark Canale.
"There are more species protected and regulations have become more complicated. As the need for enforcement has grown, we've grown," Canale said.
The division has enforced fishing laws since 1892, but it wasn't until 1983 that a separate marine unit was created. Before that, officers did inland and water enforcement.
Some of the best cases, Canale noted, come from the public through the DEP's hotline, 1-877-WARNDEP, where anglers can report violations.
E-mail Richard Degener:
Tautog regulations in New Jersey
| Season | Minimum Length | Bag Limit |
| Jan. 1-April 30 | 14 inches | 4 |
| July 16-Nov. 15 | 14 inches | 1 |
| Nov. 16-Dec. 31 | 14 inches | 6 |
Posted in Atlantic, Cape_may, Cumberland, Ocean on Monday, September 14, 2009 2:30 pm Updated: 10:10 pm.
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