Posted by Bob on October 14, 2001 at 09:23:58:
According to the Warden, I'm a poacher and deserving of a $1000 fine. Heres the facts..Can I get some input from other divers?? Opening night..Mission Bay jetty...Obvious signs of Wardens everywhere. I crawled down the rocks and spent 30 mins. in the very murky water. I saw several small bugs and a couple that I caught and measured. It was difficult to tell exactly, so I decided to error on the small size and let them go. I did find one that I was sure that he was legal, so I put him in the bag. My dive buddy got seasick so we surfaced about a 1/4 mile away from the entry point and crawled back up the rocks . I'm 57 years old and wear glasses to read. I was pretty much out of breath and a bit exhausted when I got to the top of the rocks in my gear. I was immediately approched and asked if I caught any bugs. I replied yes and opened the bag. The warden measured it and said it was undersize. We had to discuss the measuring technique because the bug was very close to size, but about 1/8" short.
Has any other diver had this happen and is there any way to fight this ticket?
Replys from divers and Wardens would be appreciated..
signed...average diver