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Police: Four pay price for poaching perch
By Don Lehman
The Post Star
Thursday, February 21, 2008
They had fish hidden in backpacks, in ice-fishing shanties and even
in the seats of their all-terrain vehicles.
It wasn't tough for state Conservation Police Officer Ben Bramlage
and Lt. Thomas Caifa to draw the conclusion that the four ice fishermen
they spotted Saturday on the frozen surface of Lake George knew they
were blatantly exceeding Lake George's limit for yellow perch.
In all, the men had 494 perch -- 294 more than a group of four could
legally have, at a limit of 50 per person.
Police believe those fish were probably destined for one of a number
of local bait shops that buy fish that are then re-sold to be used
for human consumption.
It's a perfectly legal practice, though one that is controversial
and little known, in the North Country each winter. It's controversial
because opponents believe it encourages poaching and could result in
fish from polluted waters -- like the PCB-contaminated stretch of the
Hudson River -- winding up on dinner plates.
"You don't take 500 fish to take them home, clean them yourself and
eat them," said Capt. Joseph Schneider, of the state conservation police.
A number of sportsmen's groups have been pushing for a state law that
would ban the sale of angler-caught panfish like perch and bluegill.
Proprietors of the shops that buy panfish, though, say poachers like
those arrested on Lake George on Saturday are a rarity, and allowing
sales of fish keeps fish populations in balance and helps the local
economy. Fish populations that aren't thinned out tend to get stunted,
resulting in high populations of unusually small fish, he said.
"The commercial fishermen are actually doing a good thing for these
lakes. They should get a thank-you," said Leonard Field, owner of
Honey's Bait and Tackle Shop in Whitehall, one of the area shops that
buys fish from anglers.
Field said far fewer anglers are bringing in fish to sell. He said
he buys perch for $1.20 per pound, and a bucket of 50 will generally
net an angler $18 to $20. The fishermen generally spend the money in
his shop on bait, tackle or other gear, he said.
Some will bring in more than 50 fish but tell him that it was two
or three days' worth, he said.
Field then sells the perch to a company he would not identify at a
price he would not detail.
"It goes all over the country. It goes to restaurants and stores," Field
said. "People need fish for food."
Nowadays, he said, his shop will see three or four anglers a week who
want to sell fish, when it used to see 40 or so a week.
Schneider, though, said a group of wayward anglers can do quite a bit
of damage on a body of water by overfishing it.
"It's hard to imagine taking that amount of fish in one area doesn't
hurt the population," he said.
The New York State Conservation Council and a number of other organizations
have made getting a ban of angler-caught panfish sales a priority for
2008, arguing that the practice hurts fish populations by allowing
them to be overfished.
"It would be a lot easier for us to enforce it (overfishing) if selling
fish was illegal," Schneider said.
Caifa said the four men who were caught Saturday between Canoe Island
and Long Island told him and Bramlage that they planned to donate the
fish to charity.
The four were ticketed for the misdemeanor of taking fish in excess
of daily limits. They were identified by the state Department of Environmental
Conservation as Thomas Iezzi, 43, and Randy Rivette, 42, of Queensbury,
and Fort Ann residents Patrick Collins, 43, and John L. Fisher, 30.
Fisher was also ticketed for not having a fishing license, according
to the DEC.
Caifa said the fish were donated to a local organization that helps
feed the needy.
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