Re: NANFA-L-- FW: turtle poachers arrested in Alabama

Todd D. Crail (tcrail-in-UTNet.UToledo.Edu)
Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:04:47 -0400

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mysteryman" <bestfish-in-alaweb.com
> I guess I don't get it. Which of these turtles are illegal? Is it that
> the species are illegal or the capture method or the transporting or
> what?

As a guess... They were operating as both legal turtle trade (such as
capturing snappers and sliders for meat, etc) which they were wholly
liscenced for and was the bulk of their catch... But went beyond their
permits, but not releasing bycatch species that were illegal for take, and
were to be returned to the wild immediately... Which those species could net
them a much better profit than the species they were legally catching, and
was the motivation for taking them.

So with regard to the other comments in other posts... Say you were a
commercial fisherman who had a liscence for netting rough fish (ganoid and
suckers) for meat trade, and you caught a 9" alabama sturgeon (Fed
Endangered) in your net. You know a sturgeon crazy dude (who is NOT Moon
:) somewhere who'll pay you $6000 for the one fish, which exceeds the profit
you'll secure from the rest of the haul.

Is it then justifiable to take the sturgeon and sell it to this buyer? Your
permit is for ganoid fishes, which a sturgeon definately fall within that
definition, but I'm certain the permit also has a stipuation about any
listed species.

Or should you drop it over like the sportfish that you also caught in the
haul and would normally put back, because they also violated the
stipulations of the permit?

Or to get out of the haze of hobby attack... What about the corporate
accountants and now guilty CEO's who just fudged on one or two line items?
IT was only a couple accounts after all! ;)

They're not excused from their illegal counts, even though the majority of
their business is legitimate.

Todd
The Muddy Maumee Madness, Toledo, OH
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
http://www.farmertodd.com

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