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| 5 arrested in abalone poaching bust on North Coast |
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Posted by gonphishing on January 12, 2009 at 14:06:01: http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11429456 5 arrested in abalone poaching bust on North Coast
Posted: 01/11/2009 09:58:14 AM PST
Officials collected 31 of the mollusks in the bust, and identified those arrested as 20-year-old Charles Miller IV; 19-year-old Michael Ray Phipps; 19-year-old Joshua Stockman; 19-year-old Joshua Berto and 20-year-old Corin Devlin. Three suspects are being held on felony abalone possession and conspiracy to poach abalone for commercial sale, among other charges. Berto and Devlin were released on bail. Officials say a warden saw Miller diving at Fort Ross on Thursday. The warden later found a sack of abalone hidden on the beach. Fish and Game set up a night surveillance, and witnessed the suspects returning to get their stash. Officials followed the men, and say the men threw abalone out of their car windows when they realized they were being followed by authorities. as well as this artical THE SPORTSMAN'S CORNER 2008:A year of extreme poachers and dangerous encounters
Wardens also experienced two 2008 officer-involved shootings, serving as a chilling reminder of the dangerous work wardens do. "Every day wardens put their lives at risk to protect California's citizens and natural resources," said Nancy Foley, chief of DFG's Law Enforcement Division. "Extreme poachers cause noticeable declines in local fish and wildlife populations and are our highest priority." From high in the Sierra to the San Diego shoreline, the actions of extreme poachers challenge wardens, who often confront poachers alone with little or no backup. This dangerous work is frustrating when wardens encounter the same poachers again and again. For example, during 2008: A San Diego man was arrested for the fourth time for poaching lobsters in the La Jolla Conservation Area. On one of the four arrests, the investigating warden found he had hidden six undersized lobsters in his pants. A Tuolumne County man was convicted of deer poaching to the extreme. During the initial investigation, wardens found evidence of 26 deer, many of them fresh kills, with body parts strewn about the property. In the garage, 23 severed deer tails were tacked up on the wall. A Gilroy man was
Advertisement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The two shootings wardens were involved in took place during marijuana garden raids that allied law enforcement agencies. One grower was killed by a member of an allied agency during one raid; in a separate incident, another grower was apprehended after shots were fired. Marijuana garden eradication on public lands is a high priority for wardens because of public safety concerns, poaching associated with growers, pollution of grow sites and extensive habitat destruction. On a positive note, DFG added 23 wardens from the 2008 Warden Academy and eight lateral transfers from other law enforcement agencies The January 2009 Warden Academy is scheduled to begin with 28 new warden cadets. 2009 salmon season bad news Most of the fall-run salmon return data is now available, and the news is not good. It appears there will be no salmon fishing season in 2009. In 2007, 90,000 fall-run fish returned to the Central Valley system to spawn. The fishing season was closed because a minimum of 121,000 returns are needed for the species to survive long-term. In 2008, the returns are estimated to be only 60,000 fish, a 23 percent drop from 2007, and the 2008 fishing season was completely closed. The disaster deepens. Stakeholder groups are asking for another year of trucking hatchery fish around the delta to avoid the low water and delta problems. DFG, NMFS and The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will truck again in 2009, but the levels have yet to be established. Other salmon bad news The Mokelumne salmon hatchery is in deep trouble for 2009. In September and October, when the fall salmon run peaked, flows in the Mokelumne River were cut to 20 cfs by a combination of water diversions taken by East Bay Mud and the Woodbridge Irrigation District. The result was that less than 250 adult salmon reached the hatchery. This is the second largest hatchery in the state and normally produces 6 million smolts. It also supplies the Tyee club and other key pen projects with smolts. Now it only has 270,000 eggs, which will only produce about 154,000 smolts. In 2007, 2.5 million eggs were moved from Nimbus hatchery to Mokelumne. We are disappointed no eggs were moved this year. This is another terrible example of how water policies and mismanagement are destroying California's salmon fisheries. Question: Sometimes you may run into your favorite hunting areas that now have "No Hunting" signs hung on the fence lines. The problem is these signs are sometimes posted by people who don't even own the land! What do F&G regulations actually say here. Answer: It is illegal for someone to post any sign prohibiting trespass or hunting on any land unless authorized by the owner or the person in lawful possession of the property. By the same token it is also unlawful for any person to maliciously tear down, mutilate or destroy any sign, signboard or other notice forbidding hunting or trespass on land (ref. FGC Section 2018.)
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