Three North Carolina fish house dealers were recently found guilty of buying protected red drum without reporting the transactions to the state, according to the NC Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF).
Convicted of buying red drum without recording the transactions on a trip ticket were Donald Carlisle Gilgo of Coastal Seafood in Sea Level, William Jerry Warren of Fresh Ketch in Grantsboro and Floyd Shelton Cuthrell of S&S Seafood in Aurora.
Red drum are North Carolina’s state saltwater fish. NC is one of the few states left which has a red drum population but still permits commercial fishermen to catch and sell them, so transactions between fish house and commercial fishermen are closely monitored.
According to the DMF, the cases began in October 2009 when NC Marine Patrol officers received information that a fish dealer in Carteret County was possibly buying large amounts of red drum from local fishermen and not recording the transactions as required by state law. At the time, state fishing rules allowed fishermen to harvest and sell only seven red drum per day, and the weight of the red drum could not exceed the weight of other fish, like flounder and mullet, in the catch.
In response, NC Marine Patrol Officers examined trip tickets from 31 fish houses statewide that deal in red drum and compared them with their sales receipts for the period from June 2009 to October 2009. Fish dealers in this state are required to report every fish they buy from a fisherman on a trip ticket.
“We found that at three of the fish houses there was a major discrepancy between what was reported on trip tickets and what was sold,” said Lt. Harold Knudsen, who is with the NC Marine Patrol’s Central District.
Gilgo was charged with eight violations of state fisheries laws, Warren with 16 violations and Cuthrell with eight violations. In court, all the charges were consolidated into one charge each of failure to record each transaction at the time of landing on a form provided by the DMF.
Gilgo pleaded guilty June 28 in Carteret County District Court. He received a suspended sentence and was ordered to pay $7,250 in replacement cost to the Marine Fisheries Conservation Fund for 5,000 pounds of unreported red drum. Fines and court costs were remitted. He was also ordered to turn in a trip ticket for the unrecorded fish.
Cuthrell pleaded no contest April 15 in Beaufort County District Court. He received a suspended sentence and was ordered to pay $971.50 in replacement cost to the Marine Fisheries Conservation Fund for 670 pounds of unreported red drum in addition to fines and court costs. He was also ordered to turn in a trip ticket for the unrecorded fish.
Warren pleaded guilty April 30 in Pamlico County District Court. He received a suspended sentence and was ordered to pay $1,450 in replacement cost to the Marine Fisheries Conservation Fund for 1,000 pounds of unreported red drum in addition to fines and court costs. He was also ordered to turn in a trip ticket for the unrecorded fish.
The Marine Fisheries Conservation Fund is administered by the Marine Fisheries Commission and is used for marine and estuarine resources management, including education about the importance of conservation.
According to the DMF, the 6,670 pounds of fish that was not recorded as a result of these violations will be deducted from the 2010-2011 red drum commercial cap.
Source: DMF Press Release 8/5/2010
For more fisheries information see the Fisheries Politics and Management Page on my website Surf and Salt
Comments
Small price to pay for illegal transactions will it curve the buying and selling hardly but my hats off to the D.M.F for going after the violaters.
people who do this should have there liscences revoked for a period of time and pay heavier fines,if a rod and reel fisherman caught an over or under slot drum there fines would be alot higher than a $1.45 a pound
^^^ agreed
I agree Timothy that the fines in the end don't seem to be enough to persuade dealers from doing this. Who knows how much illegal drum selling goes unreported? The problem is they are a slow moving, schooling fish easy to net. That is one reason NC commercial anglers have been so reluctant to give them up as has happened in other states.
The penalties are a joke and are not going to stop this. Why has it taken this long for the story to come out?
DMF is a JOKE! Revoke their license'? Are you kidding? Everybody knows that DMF and the COMMS have been in bed together forever!
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