Caught, Packed, then Caught Again!... Shipped, Sold, Found Guilty, and Fined

On June 20, ECO Enright was on routine patrol at about 0830 hours. ECO Enright proceeded to the Mattituck area to return an EZ-Pass to Lt. Meade. After the meeting, ECO Enright patrolled to the Mattituck Inlet area where he noticed a trawler approximately 1 2 miles offshore. The vessel was headed back to the inlet. While observing with binoculars, Enright was able to identify the vessel as one that had been the subject of various complaints. Knowing where the vessel was berthed, he took up a surveillance position and boarded the vessel just as the mooring lines were made fast. On deck of the vessel were 3 boxes of fish the operator complained was his total catch for the day. The operator advised ECO Enright that he was in a hurry and wanted to depart. Officer Enright explained that a complete routine compliance check would be conducted. After checking the fish hold area, the ECO advised the owner that he wanted to check the location forward of the wheelhouse. The owner had already padlocked the wheelhouse area. Reluctantly, the cabin was unlocked. ECO Enright searched the forward area and found nothing out of order. While in the wheelhouse, ECO Enright noticed a long bench type seat with a storage compartment underneath. When asked what was in the compartment, the owner's reply was Dead Silence! An inspection revealed 3 boxes, 180 pounds of Black Sea Bass. Two of the boxes were untagged, the third contained false information. Three ECATs were issued. The fish were sold, and a check for $360.00 was issued to DEC.

On July 9, the subject appeared at Southold Town Court. The subject had hired an attorney. The first statement the attorney made to ECO Enright was A you know, my client has already missed 3 days work over this. The subject plead guilty to all 3 charges and paid a fine of $1,500.00.

Fluke Dragger Case

On June 25, at about 1500 hours, while conducting JEA patrol from vessel 89-D021, ECOs Joe Billotto, Todd Smith and Will Burnell, inspected the Inlet Seafood Dock. They found a pallet, with six boxes of fluke. What was strange was that they were all tagged by the same fisherman, and the daily landing limit on that date was 140 pounds for all gear category, which this particular fisherman is in. Two boxes were dated for June 24, two were dated June 25, and what really gave us a clue that the fisherman was cheating on the weights was that two boxes were dated for June 26. The ECOs seized 280 pounds of the fluke dated for the two dates other than that days date. Officer Billotto spoke to the fisherman over the phone that afternoon. The fisherman eventually admitted to taking over the limit. ECO Billotto met with the fisherman on June 28, and issued ECATs to him for taking over the landing limit of fluke and for not properly tagging cartons of fluke with the proper landing date, both as misdemeanors under the commercialization section, based on the value being over two hundred fifty dollars.

Lobster Trap Violation

On July 9, while on boat patrol in Sag Harbor, T/SGT Vinski, ECOs Smith, Billotto, and Winnick came across a lobster boat. The captain of this vessel informed the Officers that to the north of their location, an individual has been setting lobster pots illegally. Upon receiving this information, the Officers patrolled to the location and discovered that there were multiple pots with buoy numbers 1497 painted on them. Officers Smith and Winnick began pulling the pots up to discover violations on all 9 pots. The pots were seized for evidence and a criminal summons will be issued.

Commercial Fluke Case

During this reporting period, the officers in Zone 2 have been tasked to support the Marine Unit and the JEA program. On June 25, ECO Burnell met with marine officer Todd Smith for a boat patrol out of Montauk. While in the marina area, the officers decided to check recreational lobster pots. The officers ended up seizing 3 lobster pots belonging to the same individual for a variety of violations. Tickets were issued for misdemeanors. After the lobster pots were taken care off, ECO Burnell noticed a porgy fisherman unloading his catch at the Inlet Market. After checking the fisherman and finding no violations, the officers decided to check the walk-in cooler at the market. It was noticed that there were 3 boxes of daily limits (70 pounds) of fluke all tagged with the same harvesters tag. After further inspection, it was noted that the tags were both pre and postdated. It became obvious that the fisherman harvested his 3-day limit in one day and decided to fudge the dates on his tags. A total of 70 pounds of fluke were seized and tickets were issued to the fisherman.

Illegal Striped Bass Apprehension

On Monday, June 28, ECOs Murphy and Ruckert went to a wholesale fish dealer in Point Lookout to seize approximately 500 pounds of illegal striped bass. While there, ECO Ruckert discovered additional violations, two (2) boxes of unlabeled scup and two (2) boxes of unlabeled summer flounder.

Fishing not so good......well, maybe....

While issuing a shellfish digger an ECAT for failure to tag his shellfish, ECO Gadomski was approached by a fishing station worker with some information. The worker told the ECO that two men had been fishing for scup in the morning. They had apparently caught their daily limit, put the cooler in the trunk of their vehicle and then returned to fish. ECO Gadomski waited at the dock for the men to return. When asked how the fishing was that day, the men replied, Not so good. Officer Gadomski checked the cooler on the boat to find 27 scup; 13 fish less than their daily limit. When asked if the men had any other fish the said No. The Officer then asked if they were sure they didn't have any fish in their trunk. They both replied, in unison, "The trunk is broken" to which ECO Gadomski replied, I'm a police officer, maybe I can help you get your trunk open. As the three headed for the car, the owner admitted to having fish in his trunk. In the trunk was a cooler, which contained 53 scup, with 20 of the scup being undersized. Each fisherman was issued an ECAT for possession of over the limit scup and another for possession of undersized scup.

Colesante goes out with a bang!!!

After receiving an anonymous complaint of 2 recreational fishermen at a marina in Island Park selling fish to local establishments without the proper licenses and permits, ECOs Colesante and Reilly began to keep a close watch on them. After several days of watching and recording the fisherman with surveillance equipment, the officers decided it was time to make the sting. On June 24, ECOs Smith and Colesante watched from an unmarked car, as one of the fisherman caught over the limit and short fluke, while ECO Reilly recorded the activity with a new spotting scope equipped with a built in video camera. After Officer Reilly recorded the fisherman off-load a tote of fluke at the marina and load it into his pick-up truck, Officers Colesante and Smith followed the suspect to his bait shop in Long Beach. The officers approached the man after he dragged the tote of fish around the side of the building. The officers found 2 days catch of fluke in coolers on the side of the bait shop. There was a total of 65 fluke with 47 of them measuring less than 17", and of course he could not provide a New York State Food fish License or a Special Fluke Hook and Line Permit. The man admitted that he was planning to sell the fish to local establishments in the area, and that he had been commercially fishing for 25 years. ECO Colesante issued the fisherman a total of 6 ECATs for his violations. Shortly after the tickets were written, the officers brought the 115 pounds of confiscated fluke to market and the check was made out to New York State. On the following day, June 25, the officers were forced to check the other fisherman before he had heard of yesterdays bust. ECO Reilly watched the man off-load his catch in a large heavy cooler at the marina, and load it into his pick-up truck. ECO Colesante, with help from Town of Hempstead Bay Constable Mike Brennan, tailed the suspect in an unmarked van back to the same bait shop. The officers approached the fisherman just before he dragged the cooler into the shop. Officer Colesante was surprised to find only one 47 pound striped bass in the cooler. The fisherman stopped at one fish that day because he was in a hurry to get it weighed. The officer then followed the man back to his truck and found a cooler that contained 7 fluke with 3 shorts. ECO Colesante issued the man 2 ECATs for the fluke in the cooler, and 3 ECATs for over the limit striped bass that the officers had observed on three previous days.

ECO Colesante, armed with a tip from one of the fishermen mentioned above, decided to check the Point Lookout Fish Dock on June 27. ECO Colesante thought it would be a good opportunity to show ECO Dininny, who is a new ECO fresh out of the academy, some of the different fish that he will encounter on Long Island. The first place that the officers checked was a small walk-in cooler located next to the main cooler. Officer Colesante noticed a suspicious black garbage bag in a tote filled with ice. He reached in the bag and pulled out a handful of striped bass fillets with the skin still attached. He knew he was onto something big, because the commercial season for striped bass didn't open until July 1. After further inspection of the small walk-in cooler, the officers found several whole striped bass hidden in various places. After 2 hours of measuring fish and recording numbers, ECOs Colesante and Dininny came up with a total of 51 untagged striped bass with 21 of them falling outside the slot limit of 24"-36" and 30 striped bass fillets with the skin still attached. The officers then weighed the fish and fillets and came up with a total of 457 pounds of striped bass to use toward an Illegal Commercialization case against the owner. When the owner arrived, he was not willing to talk about where the fish really came from. In fact, he claimed that he caught all the fish himself. However, he did admit that most of the striped bass were going to be sold next door in his restaurant. When Officer Colesante explained to him that he was in trouble, he replied, "You have to keep this in perspective, these are dead fish, not dead bodies." ECO Colesante issued the owner 5 ECATs for: (1) Possession of untagged striped bass; (2) Sale of untagged striped bass; (3) Possession of striped bass fillets without the tagged carcass available; (4) Possession of striped bass out of season; (5) Possession of striped bass outside the slot limit of 24" to 36" and misdemeanor Illegal Commercialization charges.

Shellfish Enforcement

ECO Gadomski responded to a complaint of shellfish diggers taking hard clams by mechanical means in Peconic Bay. The subjects of the complaint turned out to be in possession of only soft clams and all else was okay. However, a second boat in the area was checked and neither shell fisherman had a New York State diggers permit. Two ECATs were issued.

No Diggers Permit

On August 9, ECO Ver Hague, while on routine patrol in Oak Beach, stopped to check a recreational clammer that was wading in toward shore. The clammer, while still some distance out, saw the officer and started getting rid of some clams while on the way in. Officer Ver Hague told the clammer to stop dumping, which was complied with. A check of the catch revealed that the clammer was still 25 clams over the recreational limit. An ECAT was issued for no commercial diggers permit.

llegal Bass . . .

On August 2 and 3, ECO Snyder issued ECATs for the possession of undersized striped bass. Both subjects were fishing at Cold Spring Inlet, Town of Southampton, in the evening hours. The illegal fish measured less than 17 inches and were hidden adjacent to a bulkhead in the vicinity of where the subjects were fishing.

Busy Marine Fishing Season

With marine recreational fishing season in full swing, Western Zone Officers were very busy making sure our regulations are adhered to. At Long Beach, on July 26, ECO Wilber issued an ECAT to a fisherman for 2 fluke over the limit. On July 24, ECO Hutton, while in FTO training, issued an ECAT to a fisherman in Port Jefferson for 12 short porgy and on August 7, ECO Ver Hague issued ECATs to a fisherman in Huntington for 15 over the limit bluefish and short fluke.

Illegal Shellfishing

On August 15th, 2004, while patrolling the Marine District for marine and shell�]fishing activity, ECO Shaw spotted several individuals landing fish on the Long Island Sound in the City of Rye. After watching the individuals for some time with his binoculars, ECO Shaw called ECO Atwood, who was in the vicinity. Both ECOs continued to observe the fishermen with binoculars and noticed two separate individuals collecting what appeared to be shellfish from uncertified marine waters. After first checking the fishermen"s catch and size limits; no violations were found. ECOs Shaw and Atwood questioned one of the individuals they had watched collect items from the Sound. He initially denied collecting anything from the shoreline, and a consensual search of his personal belongings failed to produce the suspected illegal shellfish. ECOs Shaw and Atwood then searched the area and found a bag hidden between the rocks that contained 73 illegal hard clams. Once the subject was told he had been watched collecting the shellfish with binoculars, he admitted to the offense. The second subject was then apprehended without incident and a small bag of hard clams was found on his person. Two ECATs were issued for taking shellfish from uncertified waters and the tickets are returnable to the City Court, City of Rye, Westchester County.

Clamming Up

On July 25, 2004, while on patrol in Brooklyn, ECOs Bartoszewski and Freeman received a tip that there were two or more people taking clams from uncertified waters at Crescent Beach Park in Staten Island. The two Officers patrolled to Staten Island. Upon arrival at Crescent Beach, the two ECOs witnessed the individuals taking clams. Once certain what the individuals were doing, ECO Bartoszewski called the clam diggers out of the water. After further investigation of the individual's equipment and vehicle, the clamming duo was found to have 464 illegally taken clams in their possession. Summonses were issued to both individuals and charges are pending in Richmond County Criminal Court. The clams were seized and returned to the waters off Crescent Beach.

Jamaica Bay Clammer

On July 20, 2004, Officer Read was returning from the Rockaways on patrol. Officer Read stopped at the bridge from Broad Channel to Howard Beach to check fisherman and to check for illegal shell fishing activity. After checking both parking areas and walking the bridge, Officer Read noticed a group of people clamming in Jamaica Bay from the eastern parking area. Officer Read waited till they deposited their "catch" in the trunk of their vehicle, before approaching. A ticket for taking from uncertified waters was issued and the illegal clams were confiscated. The summonses are returnable in Queens Criminal Court.

NYS DEC Division of Law Enforcement Captain Richard M. Otterstedt Building 40 B - SUNY Stony Brook, NY 11790-2356 Phone: 631-444-0250 FAX: 631-444-0251 Website: www.dec.state.ny.us

Page last modified Tuesday, November 16, 2004 by George E. Carroll