Friday, May 04, 2007

Finally Nailed

from the Mississippi Game and Fish Website
Ongoing law enforcement efforts by the Miss. Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP) have resulted in the arrest of a Missouri man for selling and trading filleted crappie in Panola and Yalobusha Counties. His fine included $5,000, 10 days house arrest, and one year’s suspension of his fishing license.
The man was a well known angler on Enid Lake and other area lakes and usually finished well in crappie tournaments. Fellow tournament anglers were surprised at the charges, especially since he will lose his Mississippi fishing license and can not compete in tournaments.
Lt. Robert Mills, MDWFP District 2 Law Enforcement Supervisor and one of the officers in on the arrest, says it is unlawful to buy, sell, offer for sale, or trade any game animal or their parts in Mississippi. Col. Steve Adcock, MDWFP Assistant Director of Law Enforcement, added that while we welcome nonresident anglers to the state, we will not tolerate abuse or commercialization of our state’s natural resources.
(editors note)
This has been a problem on my home lake for many years. When we see Missouri people here, we do not get all warm and fuzzy. They try to empty our lakes of fish and return home to sell them each year. This is the first arrest I have heard of and it is about time.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Amen,I feel the same way.I think there should be a user fee for out of state fishermen that has to be paid at the lake he or she is planning to fish;in addition to the nonresident fishing liscence fee.Say 200.00?And that money could go to keeping the fish population from being seriously affected due to fishing pressure.