BUSTED: Striper Schools in New Hampshire Attract Poachers from Massachusetts

Striped bass fishermen on the New Hampshire Seacoast have been having fun with a fantastic summer time striper fishery because of massive faculties of baitfish referred to as pogies (menhaden) which have drawn in striped bass to 50 kilos. Sadly, the superb fishing has additionally attracted poachers from throughout the border trying to promote striped bass in Massachusetts.

On Monday, July 15, New Hampshire Fish and Sport Conservation Officers teamed up on the coast with Massachusetts Environmental Police Officers to analyze suspicious exercise in New Hampshire waters. New Hampshire has laws that enable for the leisure take of striped bass (at the moment 1 fish per angler, 28 to lower than 31 inches), however Massachusetts additionally has a industrial quota that enables permitted vessels to reap extra and bigger striped bass (15 fish over 35 inches per vessel) of their state’s waters.

Officers labored all through the evening, and by Tuesday morning, a number of offenders had been apprehended in New Hampshire waters with proof of taking striped bass to fill quotas in Massachusetts.

Because of the efforts, officers seized proof, together with fish and tools, to prosecute the pending fees which embody overlimits of fish, outsized fish, and using gaffs. Additional investigation is underway as the 2 states work collectively.

Though the bust was effectively publicized on social media to discourage would-be violators, at round 3 pm on Tuesday, July 23, ideas began flooding in by direct calls to New Hampshire’s coastal conservation officers and thru the NH Operation Sport Thief tip line reporting {that a} single boat with a Massachusetts hull quantity was catching and preserving outsized striped bass off the coast of New Citadel and Rye.

The boat in query fled the world in an unknown path after a number of anglers yelled that they had been calling Fish and Sport. New Hampshire Fish and Sport Officers started trying to find the boat and included Maine Marine Patrol, Massachusetts Environmental Police, and native police to BOLO (be looking out) for the suspect vessel and operator. Portsmouth Police Division efficiently situated him after he had loaded his boat onto a trailer and was within the act of ditching 14 outsized striped bass starting from 37 to 47 inches.

NH Fish and Sport officers performed an intensive investigation and prolonged interview with the person. Caught red-handed, he confessed that his intent was to promote his catch underneath his industrial striped bass allow within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Please report pure useful resource violations! In New Hampshire, contact Operation Sport Thief (OGT) at 800-344-4262 or use the app discovered at nhogt.org.