OLYMPIA - A Rufus Woods Lake fisherman cited earlier this year for too many fish in his daily catch recently forfeited his boat and other equipment to the state.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) officers cited Pedro Martinez, 46, of Moses Lake on two counts July 26 at Rufus Woods Lake on the Okanogan-Douglas county line in north central Washington. Martinez was cited for possessing 13 rainbow trout-11 over the legal daily catch limit of two-and for failing to display his catch for inspection to officers when requested.
The criminal violations cost Martinez a $250 fine and the loss of his boat, boat motor, boat trailer, cooler, and fishing rod and reel.
A Washington state hearings officer recently finalized the forfeiture of the equipment, valued at an estimated $2,500.
“This case is a good example of how a fish and wildlife violation can end up costing much more than a standard fine,” said WDFW Sgt. Jim Brown of Okanogan. “Loss of equipment for serious intentional violations is a strong deterrent to others.”
Brown credits other arrests to concerned anglers who are reporting violations they see by cell phone to WDFW’s poaching hotline (877-933-9847) and then testifying to their observations.
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Here in Pennsylvania they probably would have been fined several hundred dollars per fish in addition to all of the other forfeitures they made! I say good for the people that turned them in and bravo for the wardens that nabbed them!
I caught two people this past summer with a few more than the limit in their cooler. Fishing from a put-and-take lake and with somewhere to be, I chewed em out and sent them home. In hindsight, I prolly should have written them up or called the DOW on em, and been half an hour late.
In CO it is $35 for the first illegal fish and $10 for each additional, I believe. Never had to write one of those.
Oh well, will have my eye open for them next summer. Maybe they will have learned to read by then. Or not.
Taking their gear seems a bit much. A large fine seems better $100 per fish or something like that. This might drive them to return to fishing but stay within regs.
Maybe so, but in reading the Northwoods Call (northern Michigan) there also quite a few repeat offenders when fines are low. I think that when the limits are high that people can make mistakes in keeping track but this guy was way over the limit. He either didn’t know the regs or didn’t care.
Forfeiting equipment used in the commission of a crime is used by many agencies, and I for one am all for it, especially when the crime is blatant, aggravated, what have you. The idea is to prevent them from doing the crime again, and losing a couple grand worth of gear certainly ought to get their attention. For instance, if I find someone on an ATV tearing up a meadow on my Forest, that ATV is going back with ME, not them. The judge may (and likely will) give it back to them, but that is for her to decide.
There is no excuse for not reading and following the regulations. If you can’t count to two, then you shouldn’t start counting.
In the Island Nation of Ohio, and in particular the tribs along Steelhead Alley, we have a significant number of Eastern Europeans who will take as many steelhead (the limit is 2 per day) as they can get in their trunk. Often they will have someone drive them away and return with the vehicle for a “refill” so they don’t lose their spot on the wall or get caught with an over-limit. They speak good enough English to bum a smoke or buy bait from fishermen, but when the ODNR shows up they can’t seem to remember a single word of English. We frequently call 1-800-POACHER on them, but they disappear when they seeing us call the law. It doesn’t matter how many times they get caught, they continue the same habits. Our problem is teh same as many states, in that budget crunches have reduced the number of enforcement officers that we really need to be effective.
Here’s where they hang out. The dam was washed away a couple of years ago in a huge flood. “EASTERN EUROPEAN ESCARPMENT” added with Photoshop.:p:p
Hello Joe, I bet you know that when ‘other language’ speaking ppl are brought to justice that in many places the courts have to provide translators. Now I have to wonder if this is ‘where the money went’ in those states that have cut enforcement in half or less, which of course only exascerbates the poaching problem. Just a thought.
Joe,
Have you contacted the local printed press and T.V. stations? If one of them is willing to come out and photograph them or video tape them that might help. Maybe they can put them “In The News”.
—sagefisher—
