New Bill Attacks Fish Poachers

About the writer

Bob Frye is the Tribune-Review outdoors editor.
He can be reached at 724-838-5148 or via e-mail.

For most anglers, steelhead fishing means an opportunity to spend time with friends, enjoy some often great weather and catch the kind of huge fish that just aren't available most places.

For others, it's all about the money.
The sad truth is there's a class of big-time poachers who collect fish in the largest quantities possible, by fair means or foul, for commercial sale. Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission officers tell tales of people taking up to 70 steelhead at a time, using not only rods and reels but casting nets, giant snag hooks and even spears.

"There are a lot of things going on beyond people having just a few fish over the limit. We're talking dozens of fish," said Bob Nestor, supervisor in the commission's northwest region office.

What's worst of all is that, right now, the penalties for stealing from honest sportsmen in that way are insufficient deterrents. "In each case, all that the Fish and Boat Commission can currently do is to cite them for a summary offense and fine them $50 for each offense. Perpetrators willingly pay this fine as a cost of doing business, literally taking out rolls of $50 bills to pay the fine," said state Rep. Michael Peifer, a Monroe County Republican.
But that could change. Peifer on Friday introduced legislation, House Bill 2293, that would deal with serious poaching violations. It involves bigger fines, lost fishing privileges and even possible jail time.

"The bill was structured to account for differences between the angler who maybe made a lapse in judgment and kept one fish too many and the serial, commercial poacher who is taking fish for profit," said Greg Raffensperger, executive director of the House of Representatives game and fisheries committee.

There's more of that serious poaching going on than some people realize, said Jeff Bridi, an assistant director of the commission's bureau of law enforcement. Steelhead are one species poachers target; striped bass that run up the Delaware River -- and often weigh 40 pounds or more -- are another.

"Our officers have observed people using cell phones and taxi cabs to ferry fish out," Bridi said. "Someone will catch two or three fish, then, if they think no one's watching, call a cab or a partner in a car nearby to get them out and to a restaurant or market."

Peifer's bill is the third and final piece of a larger package, said Tim Schaeffer, director of the commission's policy and planning office. First, lawmakers passed a law enrolling Pennsylvania in the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, which suspends in all member states the hunting or fishing license privileges of poachers convicted in any member state. Second, lawmakers increased the fines and penalties for poaching wildlife like deer, bears and other species.

"This bill would take care of things on the fish side and sort of complete the circle," Schaeffer said. The bill has 60 cosponsors, a high number that augers well for its chances of passing before the current legislative sessions ends, likely in September, Raffensperger said. That means the stiffer penalties could be in place for this fall's steelhead run, which would be a good thing, Nestor said.

"Some of these people, they'll pay their fines the next week, then they're right back out fishing. We want to address that," Nestor said.

 Steelhead taken illegally
Courtesy Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

The specifics

House Bill 2293 would, among other things:

» Make it a misdemeanor of the second degree to take, catch, kill, or possess three or more times the daily limit of fish or fish having a replacement value above a defined level. The Fish and Boat Code defines fish as including all fish, amphibians, reptiles and aquatic organisms, so this would capture the illegal reptile trade as well.

» Increase the duration for which the Fish and Boat Commission may revoke an individual's fishing and boating privileges from two to five years, which is consistent with the rules regarding hunting license revocations.

» Increase summary offense fines for the first time in more than a decade.

» Increase the discretionary penalty for each fish taken, caught, killed, possessed, or sold in violation of the Fish and Boat Code for the first time since 1980.

» Provide for an optional additional penalty for those individuals who use illegal devices to take fish.