Update. Got a call from the officer this am. The only way he will release my pots is if I accept a ticket for poaching. Otherwise I have to wait until they go up at auction and buy them back.

I wasn't the one fishing with them.




It is time for you to make several phone calls to the mayors office and all of the city council menbers office about this Bs.Be the thorn in their side. I would recommend that they attach a waterproof warning notice to the pots before confiscating them. Also what a crock of bs A ticket for poaching. I would bet if you went before a judge the ticket would be dissmissed.

You should check out Chip Goodhue's experience with Bainbridge Marine Patrol, they actually stalked him.

Matt

Tell Jesse Jones from King 5 news. He will get them back for you and you get to be on TV and tell your story.

So how does he justify the poaching ticket?

Were the pots labeled? You said there was incomplete address information.


It seems like quite a leap from, incomplete address. To POACHING.

and when is the auction

Your Dad should buy you new pots.

Seems pretty straight forward to me.

Honestly, I'm failing to see what's wrong here, or how it's unjust in any ways.

You loaned your gear out to your Dad who basically was "poaching", according to the regulations. You are now paying the consequences.

I think.

There is no definition of "poaching" in the WDFW regulations. Is this a RCW? If so, which one is it and what does it state?

Your father was in violation of the regulations, but not what I personally would consider to be "poaching". Poaching (to me) involves illegally harvesting game either out of season, or above and beyond limits.

Your father should just be issued a citation. Once the citation is paid, he should get the gear back.

If it were me, I'd look up the RCW on all of that:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?Cite=77

Take the poaching ticket, then fight it in court so the judge can read the cops the riot act for being so f'n stupid about this. They can't write you a ticket (that will hold up in court) for what your old man was up to any more than they can charge you for murder if you loan someone your rifle and they shoot somebody with it.

Parker, does fishing with a barbed hook in a barbless area make you a poacher? Then how the f*ck does crabbing without proper labels on the floats constitute poaching ?

Whose name was labeled on the buoy? Your name or your father's name? We're you with him while using/setting/checking the pots? Sounds like it was your father using/setting/checking the pots. From page 141 of the regs:

"It is ILLEGAL to pull unattended shellfish gear with a buoy that does not have your name on it, and only one name and address may appear on each buoy. Any angler may assist the person whose name is on the buoy while he or she is pulling the pot."


If your father was the only person setting/pulling/checking the pots, this language in the regs doesn't seem like it will help you, if you want to challenge the poaching ticket.

Easy there, Chief.

If you'd go back and re-read what I said, I basically said "WTF?"

I could not find anywhere in the RCW what "poaching" means, or what one has to do to be a "poacher". I'd call BS on that.

I like your idea of taking the officer up on the citation, and take it to court. It would never hold up, and the judge would probably chew on some state ass. They hate shiat like this.

Your quote.

It looks unbelievably unjust to me.

But I've been known to go off half-cocked on occasion.

No, seriously.

In reference to having the pots taken away.

Not in reference to being labeled as a poacher, threatened to be cited as a poacher to get the gear back, etc. That's just silly talk and I'd challenge them on it.

I recieved a game violation that was absolutely pathetic a few years back (long story, posted it before). It was such a "gray area" thing that the gamie said he'd have to think about it for a while to decide what to do. Two weeks later he calls and had decided to mail me a ticket. Long story short, the judge dismissed it and gave a verbal thrashing to the prosecutor right there in court. I suspect that the sht rolled downhill and he got an earful from the prosecutor. (BTW, the prosecutor was trying to plea me out before court was in session. He offered to reduce to $20, and make it look generic like a traffic violation. I refused. He was shocked, but I told him I was in the right and wanted to tell my story.

I'd suggest calling the officer and telling him to give you the ticket but that you fully intend to take it to court and may request his attendance. This way you get the pots back, and at worst should get a reduced fine, if its not dismissed altogether.

Why is it that you throw out the hate of the liberal left. Ignor the pres. his time is almost done. and fish on

Father of Three,
How many pots are you allowed to set? If your father set 4 pots like you said, then it would be poaching. It looks like he was planning on harvesting crab from all 4 pots?
What is the deal with that? Please clarify this so we get a better understanding. It's kind of like fishing with 4 poles don't ya think? Jack

Everybody,

Please re read the original post so the story remains the same. You guys are talking about things that are not part of the original post. They were his fathers pots not his. He just went and looked for them. Amazing how facts get changed by people who fail to read the whole post.

Father of Three,
Here are the rules as written in WDFW Reg book.........
Crab: Two units of crab gear per person, and no limit on the number of units of crab gear per boat.
GENERAL GEAR RULES:
Every shellfish pot, ring net, or star trap left unattended in Washington waters must have its own buoy line and a separate buoy that is permanently
and legibly marked with the operator’s first name, last name, and permanent address (telephone number is voluntary). It is ILLEGAL to pull
unattended shellfish gear with a buoy that does not have your name on it, and only one name and address may appear on each buoy.
I'm glad that I looked it up, I learn something new everyday. Jack

JoJo,
I did look at the original post closely and that is why I questioned Father of Three about how many pots were put out.
He first said that the pots were his fathers. At the end of the paragraph he says that he screwed up by not labeling his pots correctly.
If they are Father of Three's pots, then his father is violating the laws by fishing with pots that are not his. If they are his fathers, then the father is violating the laws by fishing with too many pots. Both intances would be illegal harvesting which I guess would be another word for poaching?
Who's pots are they? Jack

Either way, it seems like a bit of an overreaction by the coppers...but that being said, it all could have been avoided by properly labeling the bouys, as required by state regulations.

Fish on...

Todd

Who's on third?

"LB, you need to learn how to read, I didn't say the President had anything to do with how the money was spent, you must have your head in the same place as he does....."

????

WTF do you do with crab caught in Tacoma. Isn't that a superfund site with all sorts of heavy metals , PCB's and cancer causing contamination?