Help

[coenbrian]

this is actually my first post and i specifically joined this forum to ask this question. the last few months i have spent a lot of time diving in barnegat inlet. just about everyday that i am out there, i see a group of people taking large amounts (2-3 dozen) of what appear to be juvenile tog in the 6- 8 inch range. this particularly aggravates me (if they are tog) b/c all spring i resisted shooting even a single fish when there were MONSTERS everywhere and now these folks seem to be raping the fishery. with no disrespect to any race or nationality, the individuals that i speak of are of asian decent. (i only mention this b/c maybe that will trigger someone's memory and help identify the fish). does anyone know what type of fish this may be, if it is not a tog??
thanks

[Dmill]

It will continue to happen.. You can tell them all day long they are too small and they just pretend they dont understand english.. Some really might not understand but that does not mean they shouldnt know the limits.. They get caught once in a while.. Only so many game wardens out there enforcing tho bri.. Congrats on that fluke

[TriggerNJ]

Go check the buckets and see exactly what's being kept. Sometimes it's just a bucketful of bergalls. Once you’re sure it's tog you can call this number and report them.
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ogt.htm
Aside from that your hands are pretty much tied. I know it sucks.

[coenbrian]

thanks den.
trigger- i have called, but like dmill said, they told me they didnt have the resources to dispatch a warden.
i wish i had the balls to just dump their bucket of fish back in the pond or at least bite off their green crab myself.

[TriggerNJ]

Yeah, it's frustrating I know.

[Fishin' Dog]

They were probably bergalls, but I would definatly take a peek in the bucket to make sure. If they are short tog, why depend on the one guy for the whole county to catch him. Give him some real grief over it and maybe he won't bring 10 of his buddy's with him next time. On a side note, Wow!! Nice flatty!

[spear kook]

Yo brian , this is Ron. i looked into one of thier buckets today there was bergal but i did see two tog 8 to 10 inches.

it gets worse though. two idiots spearing right next to me with no float with like 3-5 ft hazy vis. taking shots at anything that moved !!!!

[njdiver]

it gets worse though. two idiots spearing right next to me with no float with like 3-5 ft hazy vis. taking shots at anything that moved !!!!

No need for Marine Enforcement on that one, just call the local police. They can enforce the regulations on swiming and diving!

[spear kook]

Yeah its funny our friend we dive with sometimes is a local cop here. he would have had fun with this one

[LeMonstier]

I saw a guy one time at shark river with 3 small tog and a nice size flounder. I was trying to explain to him that the tog were too small and he threw back the flounder.

I know there are people out there fishing for restaurants. They know the deal. If you dress up in some khakis with a hat with something important looking on it, they will throw them back. My Dad visits the jetty sometimes with just his NAVY ball cap and there are people throwing fish back they know are illegal.

It is really important for speros to police our own scene first. The problem with spearfishing is, it's just a really great thing to do and other people will see that, so it's important to teach the new guys the rules cause they are not going to go away.

[LeMonstier]

"it's important to teach the new guys the rules cause they are not going to go away."

Just to be clear, I don't mean for that to sound condescending.

I got this book a long time ago and it stresses the importance of conservation and respect for the fish we are hunting. http://www.amazon.com/Spearfishing-Skin-Scuba-Divers-Diversification/dp/0941332594/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219875887&sr=8-2
The history of spearfishing is not a good one, back in the day when spearfishing was really popular, the giant black sea bass of California were really effected by spearfishing and it gave the sport a bad name. Just as the Striped bass population was almost destroyed by over fishing on the East coast in the 70's. (not by spearfishing mind you)