Three Convicted of Selling Game Fish_TN

[FlyLie]

Let's see, for 120 bags of fish and total fine of $1780, that's $14.83 per bag.
Or looking at it another way, based upon 600 fish, than it's till only $2.97 per fish!

I'd say they got off easy...Way To Easy!

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_191770.asp

[BASSKING]

getting off easy is right , these guys should have had the book thrown at them . the penalties dont seem fair sometimes. IMO there is no lesson learned in this case

[HURRICANEBOB]

Ohhhh....I do so agree. Thank God they weren't selling guns, or drugs. I can live with a fish or 2 being gone. Hey, if you sell large 8 inch shiners, that's legal, but selling a 6 inch Bass is illegal? When did God decide Bass were worth more than shiners........oooops....or did we do that?

[GeoFisher]

Ohhhh....I do so agree. Thank God they weren't selling guns, or drugs. I can live with a fish or 2 being gone. Hey, if you sell large 8 inch shiners, that's legal, but selling a 6 inch Bass is illegal? When did God decide Bass were worth more than shiners........oooops....or did we do that?

I think it is more about the POACHING, instead of the selling.

They were GUILTY of quite a few game laws......but I definitely thinking the limits and possession limits were exceeded.

Later,

Geo

[nightbasser73]

Lot of that going on right now with all the minnow and shiner fishing going on at dale. Also friend of mine said some guys on laurel are doing it as well.

[mybentrod]

Help me guys......ok maybe the FDA not being able to regulate the sale and take control of certain taxable sales potential, I'm missing the real crime here. I have a giant deep freeze and I store quite a bit of frozen game fish. If that's what you call bluegill. Crappie and white bass, yes....but last time I checked we don't have a creel limit on bluegills. So they had 600 of them, I'm assuming they purchased fishing liscences. What they do with them, again besides selling them, is up to them. What about a good old fashioned fish fry? Educate me boys. I know I'm missing something.

[HURRICANEBOB]

Help me guys......ok maybe the FDA not being able to regulate the sale and take control of certain taxable sales potential, I'm missing the real crime here. I have a giant deep freeze and I store quite a bit of frozen game fish. If that's what you call bluegill. Crappie and white bass, yes....but last time I checked we don't have a creel limit on bluegills. So they had 600 of them, I'm assuming they purchased fishing liscences. What they do with them, again besides selling them, is up to them. What about a good old fashioned fish fry? Educate me boys. I know I'm missing something.

I agree with ya. I buy a license, I catch 100 Stripers, 2 at a time per day, nice and legal, and if at that point I want to sell what I cleaned and filleted, I don't think the KDFWR has a dog in the fight. I agree, food distribution has to be safe. Seems to be, too, this is an FDA matter.

Hey, if I make and sell lead sinkers, would I get in less trouble than selling fish that is actually less environmentally hazardous?

[JD7.62]

The only crime I see here is the .gov wanting every dollar it can get its hands on despite having to spend two to get it.

[twise7]

Perhaps the article was written wrong...there's no law against having a large number of cleaned and ready to eat fish (imagine all the restaraunts that have freezers full of catfish, tuna, etc.) The article makes it seem that all 600 fish were caught, cleaned, and sold on the same day...which would exceed the creel/possession laws.

My dad catches his daily limit of crappie on Lake Okeechobee and brings back coolers full of them (I would guess over 150 filleted crappie) at the beginning of spring for our annual family fish fry. Is it illegal for him to possess 150 crappie even though he caught them over a two month period? Surely not!!

Then again, who knows...seems like our Govt thrives on the premise of "making it up as we go" in regards to rules and regs and has the power to "read into the rules as they wish" in regards to the consequences.

[artcarney_agr]

Possession limit includes the fish in your freezer. You can't have twice the daily limit in your freezer. Fish in your freezer are fish in your possession.

I know with ducks it's the same way - they are federally protected birds though, so they carry more penalties and are therefore policed more. Same rules apply to state regulated fish.

Game wardens can and will check your freezer, they just have to have a reason to. With the penalties issued in this case, it's clear why they don't spend the time to check freezers.....no money in it for the time spent checking. This was an easy bust and is why it was done.

[mybentrod]

Text can be misleading and misinterpreted... Especially on this board, but I get the notion you have a background in law enforcement Art? I have seen you post in regards to law enforcement before about regulations concerning kdfw. I, not having that background, only years of fishing understood it to be on the water possession limits. What about the local pond owners? They are in possession of numerous Bass and other game fish. I just always try to apply the law and it typically matches my morality. This just doesn't seem right is all Art. Not saying you are wrong, just seems skewed.

[FlyLie]

Remember, this occured in Tennessee. Fish and Game Laws are not the same as in Kentucky. This is expecially true regarding their respective definations of "possession limit".

Also, remember, these guys were convicted of "selling" and "exceeding the limits". No information given on how many other charges they may have or could have had against them?

Refer to references below for clarification:
Information for Kentucky, taken from:
http://www.lrc.ky.gov/kar/301/001/201.htm

301 KAR 1:201. Recreational fishing limits.

RELATES TO: KRS 150.010, 150.170, 150.175, 150.340, 150.990
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 150.025(1)[150.025], 150.470
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 150.025 authorizes the department to promulgate administrative regulations to establish seasons for the taking of fish and wildlife and to regulate bag or creel limits[protect fish species from overharvest, allocate their harvest, maintain ecological balance and improve fishing]. KRS 150.470 authorizes the department to promulgate creel and size limits for fish. [EO 2008-516, effective June 16, 2008, reorganizes and renames the Commerce Cabinet as the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.] This administrative regulation establishes fish size limits, daily creel[catch] limits, and [field] possession limits for fishing.

Section 1. Definitions. (1) "Artificial bait" means a lure or fly made of wood, metal, plastic, feathers, preserved pork rind, or a similar inert material.
(2) "Chumming" means placing substances in the water for the purpose of attracting fish to a particular area.
(3) "Cull" means to release a previously caught [live] fish that an angler has kept as a part of a daily creel limit and replace it with another fish of the same species.
(4) "Daily creel limit" means the maximum number of a particular species or group of species a person may legally take in one (1) calendar day while fishing.
(5) "Daylight hours" are defined by KRS 150.010(6).
(6) "Lake" means impounded waters from the dam upstream to the first riffle on the main stem river and tributary streams.
(7) "Possession limit" means the maximum number of unprocessed fish a person may hold after two (2) or more days of fishing.
(8) "Processed fish" means a fish that has been gutted and head removed.


Information for Tennessee taken from: http://www.tnfish.org/FrequentlyAske...tions_TWRA.htm
Possession limit, daily creel limit, and ?afield? explained:

*Even in a freezer at home or at a temporary residence,
one can never possess more than twice the daily creel.

*Daily creel limits run from midnight to midnight.

*One cannot have more then one daily limit while "afield".