January 5, 2015 — A father and son fishing team from Hampton Bays are facing misdemeanor illegal commercialization charges after New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) caught them violating summer flounder trip limits when their boat returned to port in Southampton late last month.
Two ECOs boarded the FV Mary Elizabeth, a 60-foot Stern trawler, when it returned to port on December 22 at the Southampton town dock in Shinnecock Inlet.
During their inspection, officers examined the Fishing Vessel Trip Report (FVTR) which reported 210 pounds of summer flounder, the current legal limit.
However, further inspection and weighing of catch on the deck and in the hold found six hundred pounds of summer flounder, approximately 398 pounds over the legal limit.
Read the full story from the Southampton Patch