Reminder for the week: Be cautious when boating icy waters or walking on frozen waterways

DOVER – DNREC’s Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police conserve Delaware’s fish and wildlife resources, promote boating safety, and protect the public through outreach, education, and law enforcement. To promote public compliance with laws and regulations, officers from Jan. 13-19 made 1,709 public contacts and responded to 45 complaints regarding possible violations of laws and regulations or requests to assist the public.

Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police Actions

Officers issued a total of 45 citations for the following listed violations related to:

Wildlife Conservation: Hunting at night, hunting illegally on a Sunday other than for deer, hunting on a refuge, hunting migratory waterfowl without required HIP number, hunting migratory waterfowl without required federal waterfowl stamp, hunting migratory waterfowl over illegal bait, unlawfully taken goose, hunting with an unplugged shotgun capable of holding more than three shells, removing antlered deer parts prior to checking, failure to tag antlerless deer, failure to check antlerless deer within 24 hours, possession of unlawfully taken red fox, wildlife area map violation – not hunting in assigned waterfowl blind, no conservation access pass, and unlicensed hunting.

Public Safety: Failure to display required hunter orange during a firearms deer season, possession of heroin, possession of marijuana – civil, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Other: Trespassing after hours on a state wildlife area, camping in a state forest without a permit, possession of alcohol on a state forest, obstructing gate on state forest lands, criminal trespass 3rd, operating a motor vehicle off an established roadway on a state wildlife area, loitering, and driving with a suspended or revoked license.

DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife recognizes and thanks the majority of anglers, hunters, and boaters who comply with Delaware’s fishing, hunting, and boating laws and regulations. The public can report fish, wildlife, and boating violations to the Delaware Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police by calling 302-739-4580 or using the free smartphone DENRP Tip app downloaded from the Google Play Store or iTunes App Store. Wildlife violations can 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?
With the cold weather, anglers, hunters, and winter outdoor enthusiasts are reminded of the potential hazards of ice and winter weather and encouraged to follow these safety tips:

• Waterfowl hunters using a boat should watch ice conditions and currents carefully to avoid becoming locked in by ice. Drifting ice in tidal marshes and waterways also can complicate rescue efforts.
• Anglers and outdoor enthusiasts should exercise extreme caution when venturing out onto ice, and should always take along someone who could provide or summon help in an emergency situation.
• Examine ice carefully before walking on it. Freshwater ice should be a minimum of 2 to 3 inches thick, clear, and solid, with no thin spots caused by springs or currents. Be wary of snow on the ice, which can hide weak spots. For ice fishing, ice should be at least 4 inches thick.
• Driving ATVs, snowmobiles, or passenger vehicles on ice is strongly discouraged. To support the weight of a vehicle, ice must be at least 7 to 10 inches thick. Without an extended period of extreme cold, ice is unlikely to reach this thickness in Delaware.

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

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