A man in Maine could be fined $190,000 for illegally possessing hundreds of Massachusetts protected female lobsters. Reuters reported that the man and his son pleaded not guilty on Monday for the possession of more than 400 egg-bearing female lobsters.
"Marine patrol officers discovered the lobsters, marked with a v-shaped notch in their tails or mutilated to remove the notch, during an inspection last year of a boat owned by Ricky Curtis, the state Department of Marine Resources said in a statement," reported Reuters.
In Maine lobstermen are required to noth the tails of egg-bearing lobsters before they return them to the ocean for conservation. Then the lobsters can reproduce more times.
"The practice of notching the tail of a known breeder extends her protection beyond the hatching of her eggs and plays a critical role in the conservation and propagation of Maine's lobster resource," reported Lincoln County News.
"We consider this a very serious crime," Colonel Joseph Fessenden, Marine Patrol chief, said in the statement to Reuters. "The illegal taking of any lobsters negatively affects the resource and is a direct theft from those lobstermen who abide by the laws every day that they fish."
If a female lobster has eggs, a v-notch tool or a sharp knife is used to remove a small portion fro the center of the tail's flipper which is right next to the center of the flipper. The notch remails through the next few molts which allows the lobster to reproducer a few more times.
Rick Curtis, 48, and Todd Curtis, 29, plead not guilty at Knox County District Court in Rockland, Maine and could face a fine of more than $190,000 if they are convicted.
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