# $16,000.00 in fines....



## capt stan (Mar 21, 2008)

By DINAH VOYLES PULVER 
Environmental Writer 

DAYTONA BEACH -- Two local fishermen have been hit with $16,000 in penalties for alleged violation of federal rules on red snapper.

The penalties against Rudolph Dendekker, 53, of Deltona and Herbert Regan Jr., 55, of South Daytona stem from a January incident when officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission boarded the boat "Mama's Money" in Ponce Inlet.

Wildlife commission Officer Clay McDonough found 35 whole snapper of assorted species and 128 fillets, which were confiscated. McDonough called Richard Chesler, a special agent with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, because the two agencies work together to prosecute federal fishing violations.

DNA tests on the fillets at the NOAA forensics laboratory in Charleston, S.C., revealed there were at least 25 red snapper, five mutton snapper and cobia. That resulted in violations for keeping undersized snapper and exceeding bag limits. The limit on red snapper in the Atlantic is two per person and the fish must be at least 20 inches long.

Dendekker, the boat's owner, and Regan, the boat operator, have 30 days to request a hearing before an administrative law judge, pay the fine or settle the case. Efforts to reach the fishermen by phone Tuesday were unsuccessful.

The fishermen also are being penalized for making false statements and interfering with, obstructing or delaying an investigation or search.

"It's pretty unusual for a case to rise to the point where (NOAA) gets involved," Chesler said. But state and federal officials have made several big cases on fishing violations recently, amid concerns by the agencies and environmental groups that fish populations are dwindling worldwide.

Chesler said the teamwork in this case helped stop poachers, "whose destructive practice of retaining undersized red snapper is a serious threat to the sustainability of this species off Central Florida."

Federal officials voted last week to take further steps to try to reduce the overfishing of snapper in the Atlantic.

Meanwhile, some fishermen have expressed concern that there may be a black market locally for snapper.


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## stev (Mar 21, 2008)

They dont play games with the 2 limit snapper limit.They deserve what they get.


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## jamessig (Mar 21, 2008)

Let's just hope some judge doesn't reduce the fine to a slap on the wrist. While I may not agree with the NMFS's recent decisions regarding red snapper, the old limit of four snapper   seemed reasonable and justified. Keeping 40 to 50 times the current limit is greedy beyond belief and completely insupportable. Throw the book at them.


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## dapper dan (Mar 21, 2008)

I'm glad I don't have to do the case package on that one. For each fillet it counts a 1 fish. 10 fillets equals 10 fish not 5. If the story is as cut and dry as it says, those guys are screwed. Commercial guys are supposed to know the laws because that's how they make there money, and trust me those guys knew not to have fillets on the boat, that's one of the biggest no-no's there is.


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## Pepper (Apr 15, 2008)

sounds like they were fishing to sell the R/S .


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## Hunting Teacher (Apr 15, 2008)

They deserve whatever the judge throws at them. I am in NO WAY supporting them breaking the law. Even if it's an unfair, stupid law.  
But "commercial" guys do this daily with little or no oversight.There halls make the amount these two law breakers took, pale in comparison!
There is NO WAY the recreational fishery  can hurt a population like red snapper if any kind of reasonable limits are put on them .
While commercial fisheries can totally decimate a species. Look at fish that had to be brought back from the brink. Trout, redfish, pompano, kingfish, spanish mackeral, swordfish, red snapper, shark, etc,etc.
Recs are NOT the problem. The commercial industry is!
Commercial fishermen claim that they are the "Farmers of the Sea." Really? Last time I checked the farmer owned or leased his own land. The farmer pays for and plants his own "crops." The farmer doesn't go into a public field and pick his crops there.
The commercials second favorite argument is, "My family has always done it." 
Some folks families had always been commercial hunters, but once it became obvious that their time had past, it was ended.
You want to know where most of the red snapper in the Gulf go? Ask the commercial shrimp trawlers!!
Sorry for the rant, but I've been dealing with this stuff all my life and NOTHING is done about it by the politicians. The voters of Florida are the ONLY reason there are any redfish, kingfish, trout or pompano left for anyone!


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## DonAltman3 (Apr 16, 2008)

They deserve the full penality and the loss of there fishing licenses for life.


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## Twenty five ought six (Apr 16, 2008)

Too bad Georgia doesn't have penalties like this.

Here, they would have gotten a $150.00 fine, and the judge would have been at the fish fry.


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## germag (Apr 16, 2008)

This kind of wholesale poaching is what will eventually destroy our fisheries if it isn't stopped with extreme prejudice. I think there should have been, in addition to the $16k fine, an additional fine of $1,000 per fish or fillet over the legal limit as well as loss of fishing and hunting privileges for a minimum of 5 years as well as confiscation of all equipment used in the commission of the crime. I also think that the judges that hear wildlife cases in Georgia should be audited once a year by some oversight committee to see which ones are "soft" on poaching fines and try to bring them into line by censure.


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## JoeyWommack (Apr 16, 2008)

I would be willing to bet it will be reduced significantly and they will be back fishing next year (maybe this year).  If you ever follow up on some of these massive fishing violations in Florida they never get even close to what they were originally charged with.


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## Hunting Teacher (Apr 16, 2008)

JoeyWommack said:


> I would be willing to bet it will be reduced significantly and they will be back fishing next year (maybe this year).  If you ever follow up on some of these massive fishing violations in Florida they never get even close to what they were originally charged with.


Sadly true.
A lot of these judges don't see these violations as "real" crimes and tend to feel it's a waste of their time, so they let the low-lives off with a slap on the wrist.
I remember one judge who tried to make the FFWC pay for a commercial guy's catch because it spoiled while they were investigating on his boat, even though he was found to be breaking the law!


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## grim (Apr 17, 2008)

Hunting Teacher said:


> Sorry for the rant, but I've been dealing with this stuff all my life and NOTHING is done about it by the politicians. The voters of Florida are the ONLY reason there are any redfish, kingfish, trout or pompano left for anyone!



It is going to take similar action to save offshore recreational fishing.


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## foodplotplanter (Apr 17, 2008)

hope they don`t hunt in georgia!!!


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