i didn't say that at all. how do you jump to this absurd conclusions? also, it's not prohibited to take them from the wild there.
nice cop out... and personal attacks. so, you're just going to call me names and NOT explain your position?
protect them? they're in a fish tank in japan, dude. they weren't being protected.
HAHAHAHA! yeah, i'm upset that usfw is doing their job, you got me!
their job is to protect the wildlife and all they did was help poach it and ship it to japan. are you blind?
i posted this article because it's relative to the hobby in several ways. no agenda, i thought others here would find it interesting too.
MY hobby?!?! this is a hobbyist's website; monsterfishkeepers.com, did you forget?
are you always this sensitive? did your goldfish die this morning? i post an article and i get all this unwarranted negativity from someone who doesn't even care to justify their position. when you learn how to have a conversation like an adult, i'll treat you like one again. until then, go **** yourself.
did you know that people can actually disagree with each other without name calling and throwing temper tantrums?
Dude, Your argument is warped in SO many ways that I feel a need to point out some concerns to your "points"
1. Prior to actually "POACHING" the alligator gar what was this guys crime? Fishing without a valid Texas fishing license? What is the penalty in Texas for fishing without a permit?
I do understand that Texas has the most aggressive capital punishment in the USA, and if that is indeed the punishment in the state of Texas than I will side with you. My bet is that it is a misdemeanor with very little to NO actual Prison time associated with it. The monetary penalty is "probably" somewhere between $100 - $1,000. OK, so the ONLY thing that MAYBE the Feds could do at this point is hit him with a $1,000 fine, take his Gars and smack him on the butt asking him to kindly not do this again.
Please note that I said "MAYBE". It is stated that they were "GUIDES". Pretty unclear WTF that means! In MOST seaboard states you DO NOT NEED a fishing license to fish on a "charter" boat. For Cripes sake dude, here in Maryland, I do NOT buy a personal fishing license. I OWN my boat, and I buy a BOAT fishing license. I can 100% LEGALLY take the boats capacity of adults WITHOUT MD. fishing licenses out to fish. The creel and bag limits still apply to the non-licensed fishermen/ women on my boat, and it is MY responsibility as captain of the boat to maintain the rules of the water, not the un-licensed passengers.
IMO they have a serious legal battle on their hands if this dude was lead to believe that they were a legitimate boat charter. At that point he did NOTHING wrong and the case is thrown out. Furthermore ANYTHING to do with the "Illegal catch" is irrelevant insofar as a paid customer of the charter company (Police). It is TOTALLY different than under-cover police posing as drug dealers on a drug sting. The Police are posing as an "Illegal" Drug Dealer, your entrapment defense suffers in that you have no grounds to claim that you believed them to be "legal" drug dealers, you simply did NOT identify them as Cops! As long as there is "LEGAL" charter fishing in Texas, the Police and Feds are "POSING" as a "LEGAL CHARTER", the defendant has a fantastic chance of getting the case thrown out for entrapment. Than again Police in MD. do pose as "Legal" liquor store clerks and bust minors for attempting to buy C2H6O and get away with it in courts 100% of the time, so who knows?
2. A $1,000 fine and a pat on the backside would NOT keep this predator from REGULARLY continuing his poaching! He basically paid $1,000 for the education of exactly how and where to catch Monster Alligator Gars. Unlike a "seminar" he also learns a WEALTH of information on how the law enforcement works in the area and how best to avoid future confrontations. At this point with a $1,000 investment this dude has gained vast knowledge of fishing for Gar and law enforcement. At this point the Poacher DOES get a legal Texas fishing license and get's his own boat and crew for the operation.
3. Now the math: Said Poacher goes out two times a month for these monster Gar. A piss poor criminal probably won't get caught half the time, but for poops and grins say that this one does: At $15,000 per gar for success and -$1,000 getting busted, this pathetically poor criminal nets $14,000 per month. $160,000 per year is not too terrible.
By letting this creep "hang himself" you can flat out take this guy off the water for a decade, or at minimum put his *** SO far in debt that it would take dozens of consecutive successful poaching trips to ever see profit. Taking the financial gain out of the act of poaching is the only way that you will dissuade it.
I am an AVID fisherman and I think that the ginormous state of Texas does indeed have a Serious Poaching challenge. If your state government coddles to "the poor old poachers just trying to put food on the table for the family" in much the same way as the Maryland state government does than you can count on your "challenge" severely escalating into the level of THE DAILY NORM, as in the Chesapeake Bay.
This creep seriously needs it "PUBLICLY" broken off in him for all to see and set the proper precedent for how future poachers will be "treated".
