Commercial Fisherman Fined More Than $2,000

[rsimms]

Commercial Fisherman Fined More Than $2,000

Loses fishing privileges for six months

Details at: http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_149676.asp

 

[SpurHunter]

Yes, it is serious when you take away a mans livlyhood for 6 months, but they lied their butts off. The sorry esxcuse that "we were unclear of how to measure fish??? and which species the law applied too?!?! Give me a break!!!! emoBang emoBang emoBang emoBang Throw these bums in jail, and never let them fish again!

 

[xrfoxracer]

SpurHunter - 4/24/2009 12:53 PM

Yes, it is serious when you take away a mans livlyhood for 6 months, but they lied their butts off. The sorry esxcuse that "we were unclear of how to measure fish??? and which species teh law applied too?!?! Give me a break!!!! emoBang emoBang emoBang emoBang Throw these bums in jail, and never let them fish again!

I SECOND THAT SPUR!!!

 

[bassin1815]

If they didn't know how to measure the fish they shouldn't have been out there in the first place.That is a buncha bull! They knew what they were doing.In six months they will be back on the lake doing the same thing they just got busted for.Just like Spur said (Take away there fishing rights) Also i believe they should be banned from the lake they got busted on!

 

[m17glock]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGG

what happened to ignorance of the law is NOT a legitimate defense!!!!!! emoHoppingmad emoHoppingmad emoHoppingmad
even though i seriously doubt he was THAT ignorant............

i hope they catch him out there trying to do the same stuff during his
6 month "sentence" .

then surely they would take ALL his stuff and ban him for LIFE .

"confused" yea sure you were.............

 

[Oldman]

how could anybody in their right mind believe a stupid story like that.i allso agree,put them onder the jail.

 

[drumking]

Most likely, they will be back out there with their nets before the week is out. Losing their license for 6 months isn't even a slap on the wrist IMO. Now, confiscating the boat and truck would have been great. That would really send a message. Lying to the judge should have brought some kind of punishment.

If the judge was worried about taking away their livelyhood permanantly and just gave them a 6 months license suspension, what does he think that the family will do in the meantime? I guess that they will apply for foodstamps and the taxpayers will feed them while they serve out their suspension. I'm being facetious, you all know that. Right?

 

[Fishin Fool]

I agree about lying to the judge. We all know that is what it was too. He should have slapped more fines on them just for that. They'll let buddies use their nets and they'll be in the boats running them. 2,000 isn't going to hurt them. They'll make that back in a couple weeks selling cats over 34" to pay ponds.

 

[tie1on]

They out to be find $20,000 and loose their license for good! IMO emoEnforce

 

[SpurHunter]

I bet they gave exact lengths of each catfish to the buyers when they sold them! emoBadLanguage emoBadLanguage emoBadLanguage emoBadLanguage

 

[sprestwood]

"Sligh told the judge he was confused about how to properly measure fish, and which species the 34-inch size limit applied to." </p>

^ this is so lame, he is almost guaranteed to screw up more regulations.</p>

 

[foodsaver]

If you are too darn stupid to know what the laws apply to you should no longer be allowed to be on the water! All that does is admit that he violates the law routinely as he doesn't know what it is. Is that judge up for reelection anytime soon?

 

[rsimms]

OK... I try my best to stay neutral and just put the facts out there. As the saying goes, "I report, you decide."

However I simply cannot let this sleeping dog lie. I must say I am somewhat surprised at the "negativity" in this thread.

First no "thanks" to the TWRA guys for doing thier jobs. But that aside... here is the bottomline. A commercial fisherman broke the law. Was this case of illegal commercial fishing a rare exception... or is it a common occurence?

The fact is... we do not know. We all have our beliefs and assumptions based on our personal life experience and frame of reference... but we do not "know." Call me a Pollyanna Optimist... while I respect those who chose to disagree, I prefer to believe it is a rare occurence. Even if I'm wrong... I caught nearly 500 lbs. of catfish in 11 hours this weekend... so I'm not too worried.

Did Mr. Sligh give an absolute lame excuse in court?

Sure he did.

Sit in a courtroom on any given day and you will hear the overwhelming majority of defendants give an incredible variety of lame excuses for speeding or drug violations. Most of them are actually really nice people, just like you and me, who are simply trying to justify or rationalize their actions. It is called human nature.

In this case, the Judge clearly saw through the lameness and in my humble opinion, assessed a very hefty, and reasonable penalty.

Will it halt Mr. Sligh's actions?

I don't know... again I choose to hope so.

Did your last speeding ticket stop you from ever exceeding the speed limit again?

Again, I hope so... let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Thank you my friends, for reading.

 

[foodsaver]

Richard,
We all thanked TWRA in the previous thread about this guy. And by his own admission he doesn't know the law which means that he probably violated it for a long long time before he was caught. If he was caught stealing from you you would want his punishment to be more severe then a 2000.00 fine. Essentially he stole from everyone of us that legally buys a license and follows the laws and I think the penalty should be the maximum allowable by law. Maybe it would slow some of these guys down if they thought they could lose their boats, trucks, nets, etc.

 

[SpurHunter]

Richard, I sure hope your not taking any comment personaly against you. We all know you just reported the result. As far as negativity, yea, I have plenty over the outcome. As many said on the original thread where it was reported they got busted, many thanks TWRA for their tireless work to catch the guys. That being said, I for one am not happy with the outcome. I guess I thought of commercial fisherman as more educated on the fishery than most. I understand that many, if not ALL attend each and every meeting when regulations on their business are debated. I will never, ever believe, that there is a single commercial catfisherman in our waters today, that doesnt know how to measure a fish, and that ALL species of catfish are under the 34" limit. And yes, you are right, I have recieved a speeding ticket, gone to court, seen outlandish excuses used for a huge array of offens's. Yes, I have and will speed again. I guess I dont see the correlation between the two things though. I might go as far as likening the commercial guys to driving instructors, (should know the laws better then the average Joe). If a driving instructor got a speeding ticket, would he look foolish stating, he didnt know how to read his spedometer, or didnt realize the speed limit applied to one paticular road? Anyway, I will shut up now. (stepping down from soap box)

 

[m17glock]

well said richard emoThumbsup and you are correct . we do not and probably never will have the complete story to make fair judgment. but with that being said......

there was a lot of thanks and praise for the twra in the post reporting their being caught.

the negativity here is more directed at the judge and what we perceive to be a slap on the wrist for someone who (appearance wise ) flagrantly violated the laws that protect the great natural resources that we hold so dear.
to me this type of reaction is proof that most of us take protecting
our resources very seriously and right or wrong that "professional" or "commercial"
fisherman should be held to a high standard.

this is their livelihood, their job and if they dont know ALL of the laws and regs surrounding their job then they deserve what they get.

the way the charges read , 10 counts of possessing over the limit of catfish greater than 34 inches and one count of setting commercial nets within 100 yards of the mouth of a creek or slough,
it just sounds like blatant disregard for the law. 10 fish over 34".. even though we dont know how much over 34" they were.
these are the very things that makes the blood boil for those of us trying to conserve and protect our resources for the future.

net within 100 yards... to me thats just a complete disregard for everyone else who uses the lake ! how many of us have fouled a prop
on these nets and had to spend the time to cut it free and found no identifiable legal markings.

now dont get me wrong i do believe in giving someone the benefit of the doubt but in this case (and according to a twra officer i spoke to this wasnt his first run in ) i am not so sure it applies.

now IF we were to get more details that might make a difference maybe not .

 

[Fishin Fool]

The problem I have is this: these folks fish in our waters every day. Not once a week. Not on a whim. Not when they lose their minds and decide to do something stupid, like shoplift. You can get a more severe sentence for writing a bad check and a lot of folks do.

I have always thought that the courts and the legal system in our area look at a hunting or fishing violation and say "so what", it's not a big deal. That is one of the prime reasons that people continue to violate the law; the punishment, if it ever comes, isn't enough to cause a problem for the person doing the crime. I'll bet if you robbed a bank, and worked for a bank when you did it, you'd never work in banking again!

$2,000 is a good deal of money. So is the amount of money to be made off selling fish over 34" to pay ponds and lakes up north. These guys knew what they were doing and not being an optimist, I think they'll do it again. Let me say this again; commercial fishermen didn't sow any seeds, plow any fields, dig any ditches, or do anything remotely like work to make the harvest they make FREE of charge off public land. Very few people can harvest a product, sell it, and make a profit, without ONE bit of investment, other than a boat and nets. You'd think if they did, they'd be so grateful they'd obey the law to the letter.

I thanked TWRA and will thank them again. I know they are few and far between. Hopefully this post wasn't too negative. It is just that we have a world class fishery here, and it seems that some commercial folks see an opening to make a quick buck.

 

[mariner156]

xrfoxracer - 4/24/2009 1:15 PM

SpurHunter - 4/24/2009 12:53 PM

Yes, it is serious when you take away a mans livlyhood for 6 months, but they lied their butts off. The sorry esxcuse that "we were unclear of how to measure fish??? and which species teh law applied too?!?! Give me a break!!!! emoBang emoBang emoBang emoBang Throw these bums in jail, and never let them fish again!

I SECOND THAT SPUR!!!

same here

 

[WOBBLE HEAD]

Does any one have a photo of this commerical fisherman's boat......I saw one putting in at Tyner the other day....and something just didn't look right, I'm not saying that this is the same guy......I'd just like to see the boat that these guys were in...