© 2024 Maine Public | Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

Spruce Head Lobsterman Charged with Fishing with 156 Traps Over Limit

A Spruce Head fisherman is facing penalties of up to $500 and the suspension of his harvester’s license after state marine patrol officers charged him with fishing beyond his trap limit. Jeff Nichols, a spokesman for the state Department of Marine Resources, says fifty-two year old Brian Tarbox was only licensed to fish with 800 traps when he was stopped by marine patrol officers.

“The marine patrol hauled all of his gear and discovered that he actually in addition to having tags that belonged to another harvester on his trap, he was fishing 156 traps in excess of his total,” Nichols says.

Marine Patrol Colonel Jon Cornish said fishermen who fish in excess of trap limits not only undermines important lobster conservation laws, it is unfair to hundreds of other law abiding harvesters in the region. Cornish said that violations on a scale similar to Tarbox’s are highly unusual in Maine.