Some anglers pay $300 a day to fish private stretches of spring creeks that do not even allow you to keep any fish. Others pay $5 per fish to catch and keep freshly stocked fish from tiny, manicured, manmade ponds. Some have even paid $500 to catch hatchery-raised salmon in a floating pen.

So what obstacle is paying a fine of $50 to $100 to take home wild brook trout for the frying pan by fishing closed water, using worms in fly fishing only water or otherwise violating one of Maine’s fishing rules?

According to data from the Maine Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (DIF&W), that is exactly what is happening.

Fishing violations rarely cost the perpetrator more than $100. Our law enforcement resources are spread thin. Access to our woods and waters is now easy. So what is the likelihood of getting caught in the act of violating our fishing regulations?

Even if you do get caught, with the backlog of cases now faced by most district courts, how many cases ever result in an actual conviction? Such high-risk violations as illegal stocking most often go unpunished.

When we do apprehend someone in the act of poaching and get a conviction, the fine is rarely more than a slap on the wrist. During a three-week period this spring I evaluated 10 fishing violations as reported by the Morning Sentinel (Waterville) and prosecuted in the Skowhegan and Farmington district courts. Of these, three were for No Fishing License four were for Worms in an FFO Water, two were for Violation of Ice Fishing Restriction, and one was for Violation of Fish Limits. Fines ranged from a low of $68 to a high of $100. The average fine was $85. The fines were not even consistent. Three folks paid $100 for a FFO violation. One person paid just $75. 

Having requested arrest and penalty records pertaining to fishing violations from DIF&W a couple of years ago, I finally decided to do an analysis. What I found really disappointed me. According to the data, there were 1,642 convictions for fishing related violations reported for 2000, 2001 and 2002 (roughly 550 per year). During that time the state levied fines for fishing violations totaling $128,080.00 (roughly $43,000 per year). The average fine during this period was just $78.00. The highest average fine for a frequently prosecuted offense was $110.81 for exceeding the fish limit. The lowest average fine for a frequently prosecuted offense was $58.91 for bait in an ALO/FFO water.

It is important to note the numbers presented above represent only those cases where the perpetrator was caught, the warden issued a citation (not a warning), the courts prosecuted the case, the perpetrator showed up for their hearing and was found guilty, the warden did the appropriate follow-up paperwork, and the administrative staff did the subsequent database updates. Based on these variables, it is fair to assume that this is only the tip of the iceberg and that far more cases never result in a finding.

In the words of an old poacher, “Only a fool would poach something as small as a fish.”

Apparently there are a whole lot of fools out there!  If even 10 percent of all poaching associated with fish results in a guilty finding and subsequent fine, we have well over 5,000 cases a year of folks violating our angling rules. While I certainly cannot prove it, I don’t feel this number is at all unreasonable. In fact it could be well below the actual number.

Even if you double my example and assume that 20 percent of all fish poachers actually get caught, we have roughly 2,750 cases of fish poaching a year. As you can see this is a serious issue.      

The fines for offenses associated with smelting averaged $91.73. Fines associated with the harvesting of bait averaged $81.58 Fines associated ice fishing averaged just $67.11.

Another interesting fact is that while fishing with too many lines will cost you $68.87 during the open water season, the same offense will cost you only $64.82 during the ice fishing season – a savings of $4.05! 

While this may look like nothing more than a coincidence, fishing out of season will cost you $58.00 during the open water season and just $54.60 during the ice fishing season.  While using an illegal device will cost you $300 when smelt are involved, it will only cost you only $79.13 when game fish are involved.  The same thing goes for fishing a closed body of water; $81.87 for smelt and just $56.00 for game fish!

The top five most frequently prosecuted offenses in regard to fishing were fishing without a license (776), bait in an ALO/FFO water (217), exceeding the fish limit (187), short fish (95), and using more than 5 lines when ice fishing (84).

The most blatant of all offenses was dipping fish from a hatchery, which was prosecuted an average of two times a year and cost the perpetrator a paltry $68.33. Does it get any uglier than this? 

Another somewhat shocking fact was that the penalty for illegally possessing fish was only $76.14.  With all the problems we are having in regard to invasive species this seems way out of line.

Lastly, some good news is that the percentage of cases dismissed or filed (no finding) was negligible and averaged less than 3% in all cases in regard to frequently prosecuted offenses. As for serving any time in jail for fishing offenses, there were only 14 days served over the three years. Half of the days served in jail were for fishing without a license (repeat offenders I assume?)

With the minimum fine for speeding now at well over $100 (and $300+ fines not at all uncommon), why are fines associated with fishing violations for the most part capped at $100. In addition, while the cost of speeding tickets has risen consistently and significantly in recent years, fines associated with fishing violations have not changed much in the last ten years.

While speeding may be an extreme example due to the public safety issue, the point is that, based on the value of today’s dollar (and the important role that recreational fishing plays in the rural Maine economy), the fines associated with fishing violations are not representative of the impact that the offenses have on Maine.  In addition to the obvious impact that poaching has on our natural resources, in the case of violations involving stocked fish we honest sportsmen pay for these fish.

While there are those who question whether high fines are a deterrent to crime, I can tell you that my driving has slowed down considerably since speeding fines reached a point where they actually hurt. At $50 or so, the occasional speeding ticket was simply part of the deal; a cost associated with my poor planning and impatience. However, when the fines for speeding started creeping up and up as well as affecting your insurance premium, I took notice and slowed down.

We need to assess the value of the resource being affected. Recreational fishing brings millions of dollars to the state of Maine. In addition, this blatant disregard for the law and lack of respect for the resource can no longer be justified as putting food on the table or anything less than what it really is; theft!  With a minimum wage of over $6 an hour, a person can earn enough money in the time it takes to poach a few fish to buy a few fish!  What this is all about is laziness, lawlessness, and selfishness.

While society has risen up against offenses that put the public at risk, involve the theft of personal property, or result in bodily harm to others, we have fallen way behind in regard to protecting our natural resources from the selfish actions of a few so-called sportsmen who just don’t seem to get it.

The maximum allowable fine for a given offense is set in statute by the legislature. From there it is up to our judges to make the final determination (up to the statute maximum). The fines collected go to the DIF&W to be used in their overall budget with no specific programs targeted. As I see it, there are a few areas where we sportsmen can influence some level of reform here if we wanted to. 

First, we could work legislatively to increase the maximum allowable fines for the offenses in question. From there we could work toward establishing mandatory minimum fines, eliminating the possibility judges will lessen the impact of newly increased fines.  Lastly and equally important, we could work to legislate that the fines be used solely to increase law enforcement in our woods and waters.     

As the voice of Maine’s sporting community, I call on the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, Isaac Walton League, Maine Professional Guides Association, Maine Bow Hunters Association, Trout Unlimited, and others to band together and sponsor legislation making violations against our natural resources a crime with a penalty that reflects the actual impact of the action. 

The existence of strict and costly fines will only negatively affect the outlaw faction of the outdoor community. By default, law-abiding sportsmen will not be affected. 

What this would do is to provide some real deterrence to those who continue to treat natural resources as something there for the taking. 

After a few outlaws pony up some real money, word will get around and some (but clearly not all) will take notice.  With our law enforcement resources spread so thin, they need all the help they can get.

Bob Mallard has been a flyfisherman and fly tyer for over 25 years and is the owner of Kennebec River Outfitters on Route 201 in Madison, ME. He can be reached at (207) 474-2500 or www.kennebecriveroutfitters.com.