Illegal Fishing & Fish Sales Being Investigated
Illegal fishing and fish sales in the state of Ohio have landed restaurant owners and a group of walleye anglers in some hot water. Both parties are being charged and investigated separately. The owners for buying illegally caught and distributed game fish and the group of fisherman for exceeding walleye limits.
Ken Fritz, of Ohio’s Devision Of Wildlife was not surprised by what their investigations have brought to light, in fact he believes this type of activity is fairly common.
A few people are caught every year selling illegal fish and game meat, though the offenders are very hard to catch unless there is a solid tip or inside informant passing information on to game officers, which is how the group of walleye anglers were most recently caught.
Officers, undercover began monitoring the group of fishermen back in 2006, to see if their inside information was correct.
As things turned out the anglers were exceeding daily walleye limits, which is four per day. The officers discover that the men were exceeding limits by more than 3 times the legal limit equating to about 600 walleye being caught and kept for resale in less than a 2 week span.
Six anglers of the group were charged with exceeding the states walleye limits and face hefty fines and up to 20 days jail time. They also face losing their fishing rights in the state of Ohio.
Two restaurants and grocery stores have also been seized for selling illegal game fish.
