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Dont forget to post the results of the "trial" of these guys. I am going to place my wager on a small fine, and loss of gill netting rights for the month of november. I highly doubt the tribe will get too carried away prosecuting a member for something that the tribe feels is their right to do.
I see in the article it said "To the fullest extent of the law". I wish they would have elaborated on what the maximum penaly is. My prediction may have been over what the max penalty is.
i think the sault tribe is going to hit these guys hard, and well they should. now if the state goes after the whole sale guys and the white guy with a big stick as well, it may send a message to other poachers we as a comunity won't put up with this crap any longer. i hope the dnre and county lawers nail their hides to the barn door.
If you notice it says they have been charged with civil infractions, not misdemeanors or felonies. Thats like getting a speeding ticket, which means no jail time and limited fines. What a joke. What ever the fines will be I am sure they made much more than that off the illegal fish. What is to stop them from doing it again.
Now that the damage is done......lets see who will really pays the price for the abuse of this treaty, Local businesses (i.e. bait stores, motels, resorts, guides, etc. etc.) I think will pay dearly when the state, in an attempt to fix the problem and lowers the daily bag limit to one, two,or maybe three fish per day just like they did in Northern Wi. all the while the Indian limits don't change(verbiage in/on the treaty are untouchable) But if history really does repeat it self, then we are all in for one hell of a bad trip! Just ask anybody in the same kind of businesses in Northern Wi. they have been dealing with this vary same problem for 30+ yrs! the ones who haven't been forced out of business are just barely makin it!....... I really hope I'm wrong.
Civil infraction
From Wikipedia encyclopedia
In common law countries, a civil infraction is a non-criminal violation of a rule, ordinance, or regulation.
United States law
A civil infraction is violation of the law less serious than a misdemeanor, and which usually does not attach certain indiviual rights such as a jury trial.
[edit] Punishments for infractions
In the United States, the key characteristic of an infraction is that the punishment seldom includes any amount of incarceration in a prison or jail or any other loss of civil rights – typically the only punishment is a fine, although sometimes other regulatory actions are possible (e.g. revocation of a license or permit) or an order to remedy or mitigate the situation.
OH Oh they are in big trouble now!!!!! :rolleyes:
i hope these idiots have to pay fines and make restitution and lose their fishing rights at least for a time. i have some faith in the system and the lawers to do the right things. punishment is the order of the day. fines and restitution should run into the thousands.(should) with a little luck these idiots should lose their fishing too. i can hope.
Hey its a start, lets not beat em down til we find out whats done to the netters. I'm happy to atleast see they are still going thru with it. I hadnt heard anything more so sort of figured it was a done deal. I agree they should get hit hard, but also think the buyer should get hit just as bad or more.
Hey I agree with the previous post from Springfield its great that this isn't being swept under the carpet. So obviously all the feedback everyone's giving to the powers that be is in fact keeping this issue alive, and perhaps the punishment will fit the crime, lets see. So thanks to all who kept this issue alive,
So I'm sitting here thinking about a simple solution to this problem and what if the powers to be simply made it a felony for anyone who's in the business of commercially selling fish , to receive fish taken illegally. This would then remove the monetary incentive for tribal members or ANYONE who thought of taking fish illegally because they could not get rid of them because the guys who run the commercial markets would think twice about taking the chance of buying them.
We all know that the guys who received these fish knew EXACTLY where they came from and that they were harvested ILLEGALLY, If it was now a felony with bigger penalties, the commercial markets would be a lot more careful when buying fish.
First offense would be, lets say double the value of the fish received with a minimum of $10.000.00 Which would then be allocatted for restocking the waters where the illegally taken fish came from.
Second offense would be revocation of your commercial license for you or any family relations for 5 years.
Third offense,oh never mind.
Also the monetary penalties would also apply to any tribal members caught selling fish for MONEY as that IS NOT SUSTENANCE FISHING like the outdated treaties prescribe that we we are stuck with in 2010, from 1836 , 174 years later!
Im not a lawyer,thank God, but this would certainly get these guys attention , AND dry up the market for illegally taken fish in the quantities we are seeing here.
Just a thought.
In talking with the fishing clubs lawyer, these guys are looking at $100,000 in fines!
Yes $100,000 in fines to be paid to the tribe! That does nothing to help replace what they took from the bay. Also that still leaves alot of profit in their pockets as compared to what they sold the fish for. Maybe they can buy more gill nets!!!!!!!