Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide
Hello from Topsail Beach, North Carolina. Below is a copy of an email from NC Marine Fisheries.
[quote]
MOREHEAD CITY – N.C. Marine Patrol officers seized 12 illegally-caught grouper Friday night, after staking out a Brunswick County fish house, waiting for the commercial fishing vessel Capt. Star. Marine Patrol Officers Jonathan Weaver and Jonathan Hall charged the boat’s captain, Milton Muellerweiss, 50, of Ocean Isle Beach, with engaging in a commercial fishing operation without being properly licensed and with exceeding the harvest limit for black and gag grouper. Three other crew members were charged with participating in a commercial fishing operation without being properly licensed and with exceeding the possession limit of gag grouper during a commercial closure. Crew members were Philip Craig Dellinger, 63, of Oak Island; Donald Douglas Lowe, 45, of Mount Holly; and Winford Hezekiah Caldwell, 62, of Wake Forest.
Marine Patrol had received reports that the Capt. Star was bringing in more black grouper and gag grouper than allowed. Under both federal and state fishing rules, fishermen are not allowed to sell or purchase gag or black grouper during March or April, and are only allowed 2-fish per person, for recreational purposes. For the past three weeks, officers in the Southern District had watched for the Capt. Star to come to the docks. They began the stakeout March 31. When the Capt. Star docked, Marine Patrol officers checked the boat and found that none of the four-man crew had a valid commercial fishing license. The crew claimed they had kept only their recreational allowance of black and gag grouper, however 12 of the fish were found on board.
Marine Patrol officers volunteered their time Saturday to clean the grouper and donate the fish to two nonprofit organizations, a church soup kitchen and a church meals-on-wheels program. The captain was allowed to bid out the rest of his snapper-grouper catch, which was in season. The fish were sold for $6,278, and the check was turned over to the Brunswick County clerk of court.
For more information, contact Marine Patrol Capt. Jim Kelley at (910) 796-7220 or jim.m.kelley@ncmail.net.
This may seem harsh to some, but the rules are made for everyone, with the purpose of saving the fishery for our children and grandchildren. My hat is off to the officers, and especially the person who called in the tip that led to the seizure.
Good Job!
Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny
