Reminder for the week: Ponds in dog training areas of C&D Canal Conservation
Area are closed to fishing and boating

DOVER – To achieve public compliance with laws and regulations through education and enforcement actions that help conserve Delaware’s fish and wildlife resources and ensure safe boating and public safety, DNREC’s Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police officers between June 10-16 made 2,329 contacts with anglers, boaters, and the general public, issuing 78 citations. Officers responded to 85 complaints regarding possible violations of laws and regulations or requests to assist the public. A Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police presence continued at the C&D Canal Conservation Area and Michael N. Castle Trail.

Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police Actions

• On June 11, Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police officers arrested a commercial shell fisherman for 22 counts of failure to tend commercial crab pots within 72 hours on the Delaware Bay. Christopher Potter, 35, of Rehoboth Beach, was arraigned at Justice of the Peace Court 2 and released on his own recognizance pending a future court date.

Citations issued by category, with the number of charges in parentheses, included:

Fisheries Conservation: Recreational: Possession of undersized blue crabs (1), possession of sponge blue crabs (1), tending over-the-limit crab pots (1), possession of undersized striped bass (3), possession of undersized weakfish (1), possession of undersized white perch (1)*, possession of herring (1), trespass to fish (1), fishing at a C&D Canal Conservation Area dog training area (1)*, unlicensed fishing (3)*, and no Fisherman Information Network (FIN) number (1).
Commercial: Failure to tend crab pots within 72 hours (22).

Boating & Boating Safety: No life jacket on a child age 12 or younger as required by law (1), operating a vessel with insufficient number of life jackets (2), operating a personal watercraft without required life jackets (1), no navigation lights (1), negligent operation of a motor vessel (1), failure to observe slow no wake (1), no boating education certificate (2), and operating an unregistered vessel (1).

Public Safety: Operating a motor vehicle at an unreasonable speed (1), and possession of marijuana – civil (2).

Other: Trespassing after hours on a state wildlife area (4)*, trespassing on division lands in a closed area (3), damaging state property on a wildlife area (1)*, loitering (1), and no stopping, standing or parking (19).

*Includes citation(s) issued at the C&D Canal Conservation Area.

DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife recognizes and thanks the majority of anglers, hunters, and boaters who comply with and support Delaware’s fishing, hunting, and boating laws and regulations. Citizens are encouraged to report fish, wildlife, and boating violations to the Delaware Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police by calling 302-739-4580 or through the DENRP Tip app on a smartphone, which can be downloaded free of charge by searching “DENRP Tip” via the Google Play Store or the iTunes App Store. Wildlife violations may also be reported anonymously to Operation Game Theft by calling 800-292-3030, going online to http://de.gov/ogt, or using the DENRP Tip app. Verizon customers can connect to Operation Game Theft directly by dialing #OGT.

Are you AWARE?
Fishing and boating are prohibited in the ponds within the dog training areas west of the Summit Bridge on the C&D Canal Conservation Area to prevent interference with dog training activities. Fishing and boating opportunities are available on other areas of the C&D Canal Conservation Area.

To report boating, fisheries, and wildlife violations, please call the Delaware Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police 24-hour dispatch line at: 302-739-4580 or 1-800-523-3336.

Follow Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/DEFWNRPolice/.

Follow Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police on Twitter, https://twitter.com/DE_FW_NRPolice.

Media contact: Sgt. Brooke Mitchell, 302-382-7167, or Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police, 302-739-9913.

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