pirates poaching crabs, & it,s legal

Fish Wrap: Pirates poaching crabs, and it's legal
Nels Johnson  

 
 
PIRATES ARE POACHING sportfishing crab pots buoyed off the Marin coast, and fishermen are furious.
"I've never seen it this bad," said Mike "Moose" McNair of San Rafael, a sport fisherman who added thieves ripped off the crabs in six of his eight traps off Muir Beach last weekend. "That's a lot of poaching."

Last year, one thief placed a can of beer in each trap he hit, but most often, nothing is left behind and the traps are sent back down in a hurry with doors untied, so they are empty when pulled in later by their owners. Sometimes, even the pots are taken.

Although piracy can lead to volatile confrontations on the sea if rightful owners show up, looting sport traps is not illegal, as long as pirates have a sport license enabling them to have 10 crabs in their possession.

"There is no regulation against taking or stealing crabs out of someone else's trap, since sport-caught fish and shellfish have no commercial value" and cannot be sold, said Carrie Wilson, a spokeswoman for the state Fish and Game Department. "There's no crime there from that standpoint."

On the other hand, taking crabs from or even touching a commercial trap without permission is a

misdemeanor.

It is illegal to steal someone's sport crab trap. That's petty theft - as long as the stolen trap is clearly identified as belonging to someone else.

Lt. Steve Riske, chief warden for Marin and Sonoma counties, is proposing regulations that would require sport crabbers to emblazon their crab buoys with a boat registration number as part of a law making it illegal to tamper with sport crab traps.

Riske's rule, which may be considered by the Fish and Game Commission when the panel reviews sportfishing regulations next August, would include sport traps in the same regulation that applies to commercial traps. No one can pull or tamper with a commercial trap without written permission of the owner, much less take the crabs.

Lt. Andy Roberts, a key north coast warden serving a tour as

captain of the Fish and Game vessel Marlin based in Berkeley, said his crew handed out a half-dozen tickets to sport crabbers over the last two weeks. Some citations were for overlimits, others for fishermen without licenses. At least one case involved crab pirates.

Lots of people are riled up about people stealing crabs out of other people's traps," the 37-year-old Roberts said.
 The biggest crab piracy case off Marin since the sport season opened two weeks ago involved two Marin men caught in a skiff Nov. 8 after stealing 56 crabs from traps off Stinson Beach. The two will be charged with fishing without a license and an overlimit of 56 crabs, Roberts said. If they had licenses, they would face an overlimit citation for 36 crabs, Roberts noted.

Because the case has not yet been filed, Lt. Roberts, a former Marin County deputy sheriff, declined to disclose other details about it, including the identities of the culprits.

Assuming the case is filed in Marin and the judge understands that ripping off a public resource is a serious crime, the violations could cost each scofflaw $16,000 or more.

In Marin, fishing without a license is a $675 offense. One crab over the limit costs $270. Each additional overlimit crab costs $54 more. If any crab was undersize, chalk up $211 more - plus $54 for each additional undersize crab.

And if the judge is in a bad mood, there's an unlawful taking of fish violation - in this case, crab - that runs $540.

But it is unlikely that the maximum penalties will be imposed.

Although several Marin judges have cracked down in recent years on poaching scofflaws, many Fish and Game cases end in a bargain for the bandit following a plea deal cut with the district attorney's office. Penalties are reduced.

Nonetheless, a fine will be imposed, and it could run several thousand dollars or more. Those poached crabs seized by Fish and Game will cost the pirates a pretty penny.

Stay tuned for reports on how the Marin County Hall of Justice deals with the case - and how Lt. Riske's proposal fares in Sacramento.

Alameda del Prado, Novato, 94948. His phone number is 382-7288; fax 884-1478;

e-mail njohnson@marinij.com. Fish Wrap

appears Fridays.