CAMBRIDGE, MD. – In one of the rare occasions when Maryland prosecutors and judges have gotten serious with an outlaw Waterman one poacher pirate just may be having his timbers shiver.
- CAMBRIDGE, MD. – In one of the rare occasions when Maryland prosecutors and judges have gotten serious with an outlaw Waterman one poacher pirate just may be having his timbers shiver.
Pirate Poachers of the Chesapeake: Maryland gets tough with outlaw waterman; license of Adam Antes pulled for life and sent to slammer for six months
CAMBRIDGE, MD. — May 9, 2016 — An oyster poacher under a lifetime commercial fishing ban received jail time and six recreational anglers illegally fishing were charged in cases recently handled by the Maryland Natural Resources Police.
According to Maryland Natural Resources Police, Wicomico County man was sentenced in district court to six months in jail last Tuesday after pleading guilty to poaching oysters.
Adam Rodney Antes, 33, of Tyaskin, was charged on Jan. 11 with eight counts of poaching after officers measured his catch and found four bushels containing 55 percent, 39 percent, 32 percent and 29 percent undersized oysters.
Antes admitted to dredging oysters just outside Cedar Hill Harbor the previous night.
Four days after he was charged, Antes was permanently banned from commercially fishing in Maryland by an administrative law judge for poaching violations unrelated the Jan. 10 incident.
Judge Michael Burns said the revocation, dated Jan. 15, “was reasonable” given the extent of Antes’ actions, which included accumulating 60 points on his tidal fishing license over two years, nearly double what is required to trigger the revocation hearing process.
Last week, Antes, who was already on two years’ probation for an oyster poaching case from 2015, was ordered to serve his time at the Wicomico County Detention Center. The other seven charges were placed on the stet docket, which means they may be re-opened at any time within one year if the judge’s conditions are violated.
CAMBRIDGE, MD. – In one of the rare occasions when Maryland prosecutors and judges have gotten serious with an outlaw Waterman; one poacher pirate just may be having his timbers shiver.
A Wicomico County waterman convicted of multiple oyster poaching violations has been permanently banned from commercially fishing in Maryland waters by an administrative law judge.
Adam Rodney Antes, 33, of Tyaskin, was found guilty in district court over a two-year period of taking oysters from protected waters, overharvesting and harvesting undersized oysters. He was assessed 60 points on his tidal fishing license by the Department of Natural Resources, nearly double what is required to trigger the revocation hearing process.
Judge Michael Burns said the revocation, dated Jan. 15, “was reasonable” given the extent of Antes’s actions.
“The licensee’s transgressions endanger a unique Maryland resource,” Burns wrote in his decision. “I can find no reason not to uphold the rational decision of the DNR [Maryland Department of Natural Resources] to revoke this licensee’s tidal fish license.”
On Jan. 11–just four days before Burns handed down the revocation—Antes was charged with eight new counts of oyster poaching by Natural Resources Police officers.
Acting on a tip, officers set up surveillance on the vessel, “Kimberly Dawn,” tied up near Bivalve Harbor in Wicomico County. Aboard they saw piles of oysters on the boat’s deck.
Antes admitted dredging oysters just outside the harbor the previous night.
Officers gathered the oysters in five bushel baskets and measured them, finding four bushels to contain 55 percent, 39 percent, 32 percent and 29 percent undersized oysters.
Antes was charged with four counts of harvesting undersized oysters, violating harvest hours, possessing oysters two hours after sunset/before sunrise, failing to cull oysters, and failing to tag oysters and place them in approved containers. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Antes is scheduled to appear in Wicomico District Court on April 5, 2016.
Pirate Poacher of the Chesapeake Adam Antes Nabbed by Cops Using Space-based Satellite Technology
TANGIER SOUND, MD. (January 2015) – The poaching pirates of the Chesapeake Bay, a small but determined group of outlaw watermen, continue to thwart the efforts to perpetuate the oysters and other bounty of the Bay.
Whether it be undersize or female crabs, under size rockfish or robbing oyster sanctuaries, these outlaw watermen continue to commit their most foul deeds.
Among the ones who are outraged the most over the actions of the poaching, pirates are the honest and hard-working watermen who follow the laws and abide by the regulations that hopefully will restore the fisheries.
The compatriots to the Pirates, unfortunately, continue to be weak-sister prosecutors and bone-headed judges who arrange sweet deals and light or non-existent outcomes.
The most recent ridiculous deal came from Talbot County States Attorney Scott Patterson, who let the Lynch Brothers Pirates off ‘Scott-Free’ from their violations, without a penny paid in fines.
Maryland taxpayers continue to invest millions in shipping oyster shells from the Gulf Coast to the Chesapeake to use in building up and restoring oyster bars.
The latest poaching pirate is revealed in this dispatch from the Natural Resources Police on Jan. 16, 2015:
Armed with their newest enforcement tool, Maryland Natural Resources Police officers Friday morning pierced a blanket of fog to nab a waterman illegally harvesting oysters from a state sanctuary in Somerset County.
Officers were on patrol in the Tangier Sound, monitoring the radar capability of the Maritime Law Enforcement Information Network (MLEIN), when they noticed a vessel heading toward the Somerset Oyster Sanctuary. Due to heavy fog in the area, officers were able to position themselves near the sanctuary without being detected.
Once the officers observed the suspect vessel enter the sanctuary on MLEIN, they intercepted the vessel actively engaged in dredging for oysters. Officers then maneuvered alongside and boarded the vessel, operated by Adam Rodney Antes, 32, of Nanticoke.
Antes had two bushels of undersized oysters on board. Antes received two citations for harvesting oysters from a sanctuary and two citations for harvesting undersized oysters. Both bushels of oysters were returned to the sanctuary.
Antes is scheduled to appear in Somerset District Court on March 10, 2015.. If found guilty of all four charges, he faces a maximum penalty of $8,000.
In December, Antes was charged with overharvesting oysters in Wicomico County, a case that is scheduled to be tried on March 3. Last August, he was found guilty in Wicomico County for possessing undersized crabs and was found guilty last March in Somerset County for possessing unmeasured oysters.
Adam Rodney Antes of 2605 Hickman Lane, Nanticoke, Md., was cited on Dec. 17, 2014, by NRP Officer J. McNamara for over the daily limits of oysters. The case will be held in Wicomico District Court on March 3, 2015.
Ticketed for driving his vehicle on roadways without current registration plates/driving while his license was suspended by Maryland State Trooper K. Secrist of the Salisbury Barrack of the Maryland State Police. He entered a guilty plea on Aug. 1, 2014, and was fined $70.00.
Cited on March 25, 2014, by Natural Resources Officer J. W Bromley IV for possession of unculled oysters. In Somerset County District Court on April 29, 2014, he entered a plea of guilty and was fined $132.50.
Cited by NRP Officer for possession of undersized crabs on Aug. 19, 2013. In Wicomico County District Court he was found guilty and fined $67.50. Crabs were selling for over $100.00 a dozen retail in some locations at that time. This easy deal was the responsibility of Wicomico County States Attorney MATTHEW A. MACIARELLO, State’s Attorney (Republican).
Arrested by Wicomico County Dfc. Jeffrey Heath for possession of paraphernalia and possession of drugs other than marijuana on Aug. 12, 2012, Antes entered a guilty plea to the drug charge on March 1, 2013, in Wicomico County District Court and was fined $500.00. Antes was represented by attorney Michael J. Richardson of Nanticoke, Md.
Charged with assault and disorderly conduct in Worcester County, Md., on Feb. 11, 2010, by Deputy Edward Newcomb. Antes, represented by attorney Michael S. Rotwein of Ocean City, entered a guilty plea to disorderly conduct and was put on Probation Before Judgment on July 8, 2010, and fined $100.00.
Arrested for possession of marijuana on Sept. 13, 2006, by Deputy James Rodriquez in Worcester County, Md., he entered a guilty plea in District Court on Nov. 11, 2006, and was fined $500.00.
CAMBRIDGE, MD. – In one of the rare occasions when Maryland prosecutors and judges have gotten serious with an outlaw Waterman one poacher pirate just may be having his timbers shiver.
