Lewes man Shawn Moore faces 200 DNREC violations

[longnecker]

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Division of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement agents arrested Lewes fisherman Shawn P. Moore, May 12. Moore, 36, was charged with 200 counts of violations of commercial shell fishing regulations.
A commercial conch fisherman, Moore faces 66 violations because his conch pots were not equipped with a bait-saving device.
Sgt. Gregory Rhodes, of DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement, said eel and conch fishermen are allowed to use horseshoe crabs as bait. Rhodes said the bait-saving device is used to keep horseshoe crab bait attached to the conch pot so other sea creatures cannot remove it. “We want them to be able to maximize their usage,” Rhodes said.
Moore was also charged with 67 counts of improperly marked conch pots and 67 counts of failing to check the conch pots every 72 hours.
The number of violations seems large, but Rhodes said commercial watermen typically tend hundreds of pots. “He had a lot of pots out there,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes said agency officers are allowed to conduct random checks to commercial fishing gear without a warrant. Rhodes would not say a random check brought Moore’s violations to the agency’s attention. “The reason for and how we came across this information will all come out at trial,” he said.
Moore was arraigned in Justice of the Peace Court 3 in Georgetown and released on $20,000 unsecured bond. Rhodes said Moore pleaded not guilty to the charges, and no date has yet been set for the Court of Common Pleas trial.
http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/n...lations/827269

[max1]

It's sad to me because its a tough life for these folks to try to maintain. Top it off with a fellow waterman ratting on this guy for some things that should not be an issue aside from the fact that they are allowed to just come and pull his pots and look them over. Waterman know where their traps are and they don't need some gov-ment man telling them how to do this this is just another way for the government to be in our pockets. If they (DNREC) want to make a difference they should be out there catching the guys who are not following the rules as far as length of lines being used undersized crabs being sold or simply taking more of these resources then allowed. I see it all the time, why cant the DNREC see it as well? Think I'm bullshitting drive down Rt. 40 13 or anywhere close to the beach and you can find some dickhead selling 4 inch crabs as numbers 2's.