Fining the fishermen for fishing in closed areas is the right thing to do, because it is an unfair advantage for the law abiding fishermen. It is also not safe to eat oil tainted seafood. However, I don't blame the fishermen either. Some people call it poaching, but these guys were dying financially.
On November 22, 2010, the NOAA website recently posted that since the spill a total of eight shrimp trawlers were fined the following:
· Six fishermen were fined for $15,000 and one of the six was fined an additional $3,000 on two accounts of not having bycatch restriction devices.
· A seventh shrimp trawler received a $50,000 - $30,000 fine for allegedly fishing in the closed area a second time after having been previously warned by state officials, and $20,000 for four alleged violations regarding turtle excluder devices.
· $20,000 to an eighth shrimp vessel for allegedly fishing in the closed area in August, following significant public outreach and prior enforcement actions putting the regulated community on notice that fishing in the closed areas was prohibited.
We can see that a good fishermen always follows the law, because he knows that the law is there for a reason. The fishermen that were fishing in the closed areas had to throw back a total of 107,500 pounds of shrimp (NOAA, 2010). I think that those fishermen should have their licenses revoked permanently.
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