[Rivercat09]

This stuff is literally making me sick to my stomach. I just sent this following text to members of the Maryland General Assembly. I lifted the text and modified it to suit my own message

Dear:

I believe that the Maryland Legislature and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources should implement a permanent ban on the commercial harvest of striped bass in Maryland waters by the destructive practice of gill-netting.

In light of the recent discoveries of illegal netting practices, the inherent difficulties of regulating such a fishery, and the unwillingness or inability of the honest watermen to provide information that would prevent such illegal activity, I ask that legislative action be taken to protect our valuable resource and to severely punish poachers.

The practice of gill netting kills indiscriminately. Other, equally efficient, methods of harvest exist, such as commercial hook and line fishing, that are easier to regulate and would limit the by catch associated with both legal and illegal netting. The citizens of Maryland, who are the collective owners of the resource and who fund the agencies responsible for protecting that resource, were victims of grand larceny not once, but numerous times by these nefarious practices.

Our resource is being illegally harvested outside of legal quotas and the manpower of our underfunded and understaffed Department of Natural Resources and the Natural Resources Police are consumed with the difficult and dangerous task of regulating this fishery. For these reasons, I am seeking a complete ban on the commercial harvest of striped bass by gillnet and for severe penalties on poachers. Thank you for your time.


Sincerely,

RiverCat09