Interesting story from the Duluth News Tribune that is also printed in todays St Paul Pioneer Press. Whole lot of poaching going on. 
Good to see the DNR responding to TIP calls. We all must keep an eye out for poachers!
More Anglers Pushing Their Limits.
Posted on Wed, Jun. 09, 2004
Anglers pushing their limits, DNR says
ILLEGAL CATCH: Reports of people taking too many fish flood in from conservation officers.
BY JOHN MYERS
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Despite the slowly warming spring and mostly slow fishing action, reports of anglers exceeding their legal limits of fish continue to pour in from Minnesota conservation officers statewide.
In recent weeks, reports of people taking dozens of fish over their limits from the St. Louis River in Duluth made headlines across the state.
As fishing action heats up with water temperatures, the problem is spreading statewide and into Canada, including one case where anglers were caught with more than 300 fish over their legal limit.
During the past week:
• Officer Lloyd Steen of Ray was called to U.S. Customs in International Falls to process a violation involving northern pike caught in Ontario. Five California men were apprehended bringing 63 northern pike into Minnesota — 43 over the limit. The catch was stashed in their duffel bags, suitcases and sleeping bags. A $1,360 bond was collected.
• Officer Marty Stage of Babbitt reported a group of four Wisconsin anglers had 66 mostly frozen fish in their possession, many packed in blocks of ice with no skin attached. After thawing them, officers determined there were too many small walleyes being passed off as perch. The anglers were charged with being over the limit. State law requires a patch of skin on fillets being transported.
• Officer candidate Keith Bertram of Sauk Centre was training with officer Doug Lage in the Marshall area when they received complaints regarding over-limits of crappies. Two people from Tracy, Minn., were found to be 314 crappies over their limit. The limit is 10 crappies apiece.
• Officer Cary Shoutz of Crosslake responded to an aggressive crappie bite on Lake Emily and found a husband and wife in possession of 49 crappies, 29 over their limit. Fines and restitution will exceed $1,200.
• Officer Kevin Prodzinski of Zumbrota and officer Julie Kroening of Eagan took enforcement action when two people were found leaving an area lake with a bag containing 18 crappies. Investigation revealed an additional 15 crappies hidden in the minnow bucket, 13 over their limit.
“It’s all about opportunity. It appears we’re getting more of these big over-limit cases as the fishing is getting better,” said Mike Hamm, chief of enforcement for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “We’re also seeing more people calling in on the TIP line.” TIP stands for Turn in Poachers.
Earlier in the season, on the St. Louis River in Duluth, reports were that some Twin Cities anglers were catching too many fish from shore while some local anglers were making more than one trip to the river each day, taking a limit each time in violation of the law. Two of the more egregious cases involved anglers with 110 and 26 fish over their limits.
In another case, a construction worker found 125 crappies and 102 white bass in a St. Paul home freezer, dozens over the limits for each, and called the TIP line, which spurred an arrest. The offender faces $3,000 in fines and another $1,450 in restitution.
Reports coming in from officers during the past week don’t include many reports, Steen said.
“We had another case last week from (Pelican Lake) with two old guys, late 60s or early 70s, who had 49 sunfish. That’s nine over their limit. I don’t know if that’s even newsworthy any more,” he said.
It’s not that anglers are more unethical, officers say, but that officers are being encouraged to issue more citations and to report those arrests to the public.
In recent years, the Minnesota Legislature has cracked down, enacting stiffer penalties, including revocation of license privileges. Lawmakers also have added mandatory restitution fees for the value of the fish lost to honest Minnesotans.
In recent years, DNR managers have required officers to write a weekly report that’s available to the public. After balking at the added paperwork, many officers are highlighting significant enforcement actions to educate the public and reduce violations.
“It’s not that any officer would avoid a big over-limit arrest” in years before, Hamm said, “but now, we’re all more likely to hear about it.”
“We’ve seen the reaction from the public,” Steen said, “and I think more of us are thinking this may be a way to get the word out that we are out there looking for these people.”
Conservation officers also are crediting help from other law enforcement agencies. A local police officer conducting a traffic stop, for instance, discovered the St. Louis River incident involving 110 fish over the limit and called DNR officers. State Patrol and border agents also are calling the DNR.
In Steen’s case, the number of border-poaching arrests has increased, thanks mostly to post-Sept. 11 antiterrorism measures. Border agents in International Falls, for example, can X-ray boats with a high-resolution screen showing agents what’s inside, from anchors and cushions to fish inside coolers. The remote scanner is intended to show what’s inside semitrailers crossing the border.
U.S. laws and Minnesota laws make it a crime to illegally import fish or game caught in violation of laws in Canada, so jurisdiction is not an issue.
“Some of them think they made it once they cross the border into the U.S.,” Steen said. “Boy, are they surprised.”
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JOHN MYERS covers the environment, natural resources and general news. He can be reached at (218) 723-5344 or at [email protected].
