Rhode Island Poachers Caught with 116 Scup Over the Limit
EPO's discovered 206 scup on a boat of only 3-anglers off of Westerly, R.I.
(Above) Photo courtesy of Rhode Island’s Department of Environmental Management
Last week, Environmental Police Officers (EPOs) in Rhode Island were performing a routine patrol when they came across a vessel just off of Napatree Point. Upon further investigation, the EPOs discovered a total of 206 scup on board; for a boat carrying only three licensed anglers, that’s 116 fish over their collective 90-fish limit, per DEM regulations.
According to EPOs, one of the poachers had a bench warrant out for failure to appear in court for a summons from a separate fisheries violation. That individual was arrested, and the vessel’s operator was given a civil citation for a boating safety violation, along with a district court summons for both exceeding the daily possession limit of scup and possession of undersize scup.
12 on “Rhode Island Poachers Caught with 116 Scup Over the Limit”
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Alan Wynn F—- Hang’m High! Make them a $$$ example
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John Mason They’re entitled to a jury of their peers, right? 12 fishermen. Good luck.
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Bob Nice the EPO’s did a great job catching these guys.I hope the judge has no mercy.
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Mike Roy Why do EPO officers feel it is necessary to take pictures of the evidence. Evidence that EPO officials say is going to the local food banks and pantries? It appears to me that the quality of the donation is somewhat compromised after the discovery, investigation, processing, and picture taking of the violation. Arrest the perps, ice the fish and get it to the food banks ASAP. Don’t let it bake in the sun. Just a thought.
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Eddie Tillinghast I’ve seen this in every state iFish, not only happening in recreational fishing it’s also happening in recreational shellfishing my brother lives in Rhode Island and it’s constantly telling me of all the undersized shellfish and fish that people have it’s about time they caught someone , people like that need to pay fines and be prosecuted to the fullest extent they are depleting the resource hope all is Sportsman. Just a thought maybe they should start seizing their equipment and having an auction each year I’m putting the money back into the states wildlife resource!
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Bob Mierzwinski Great comments Mike and Alan…. no excuses or sympathy for poaching a natural resource….. fine’em, take the boat… make them a big example and I would also suggest to law abiding fishermen(women) … if you see something report it
Rhode Island EPO Contact Info:
General Information: 401-222-4700 · After Hours Emergencies: 401-222-3070 -
DEAN SINCLAIR Take the gear and boat
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Roman It’s time that they take a tougher stance on poachers. It’s still a serious problem and what they have done in the past isn’t working!! Let’s start confiscating boats and fishing equipment and auctioning it off with the proceeds going to fishing programs. I understand why they take the pictures. Pictures resonate with the public more than words along with species. And it’s not like the fish won’t be edible.
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Steve EPO should stop by the Watch Hill light house shore any day of the week to find a plethora of short scup being kept…
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Pat D. 100% busted, they deserve their penalty and should be made an example of!
BUT why lay the fish out like that left to rot? Fish aren’t a pile of drug money to be displayed this way. At the least Fish and Wildlife could use them for food versus rotten chum, at best. My $.02 -
Vince They’re probably Portuguese and have no rods and reels. They fish from the spool.
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Ripper Confiscate and sell the boat, trailer, vehicle, and fishing tackle. Fine $100 per fish. Proceeds to fishing education program for kids. And publish names of perps. Conscientious anglers have had it with dirtbags!
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