While protecting whales off Brooklyn, DEC uncovers illegal striped bass haul

December 5, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

DEC Environmental Conservation Officers Kortz, center, with members of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement and nine illegally caught striped bass. Photo: DEC

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DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — WHILE ON WHALE PATROL with law enforcement officers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, DEC marine enforcement officers incidentally inspected a fleet of fishing vessels re-entering state waters. The move paid off — Environmental Conservation Officers Pansini and Kortz discovered that four anglers on one of the fishing boats had hauled in a number of over-the-limit and undersized striped bass, and failed to possess marine registries. Striped bass have been overfished and their numbers are declining along the Atlantic coast, according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. In New York, just one striped bass between 28 and 31 inches may be kept per person, per day, but these anglers had nine and will have to pay up at Kings County Criminal Court.

DEC and NOAA personnel on whale patrols enforce speed restrictions to reduce the likelihood of collisions between vessels and the highly-endangered North Atlantic right whale.

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