News
California Abalone Divers Arrested on Poaching Charges
California State Fish and Game wardens raided 14 abalone poaching suspects in an early-morning multiple-city operation on the morning of Thursday 29th August, charging the divers with taking more abalone than they were supposed to during the mollusk-taking season.
Fish and Game Lt. Patrick Foy said by mid-morning all but one of the suspected poachers had been charged with misdemeanor crimes, as well as some unrelated crimes during the raids in Oakland, Alameda, San Leandro, Fairfield and Sacramento.
The suspects were also arrested on other charges, including one who failed to register as a sex offender. In another case, Foy said wardens stumbled on a cache of weapons and were investigating their legal status.
All four men are from Oakland and all four had previous abalone poaching convictions, according to police. With the proper fishing license and abalone “report card,” divers may legally take up to three abalone a day in California, or 24 a season. Foy said some of these suspects had taken double that amount and were either reusing their report cards or making fake ones to claim the extra sea food. He said that the multiple report cards and abalone shells in some of the divers’ freezers were taken as evidence during the sweep on Thursday.
Since last spring, Foy said wardens have been keeping their eye out on this group, many who have had previous abalone poaching convictions. Wardens spotted them last spring abalone diving in spots such as Moat Creek in Mendocino County and other popular abalone diving spots in Sonoma County.
“They hit our radar screen,” Foy said, and “we’ve been following them around, watching them do this in full scale.”
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
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