There are multiple reports on some gulf coast fishing sites that people are being ticketed after being observed breaking fishing laws by drones. If this is true…its a sad azz day to be an American. I never believed such a thing could happen, but apparently it is. We are being screwed by both parties being funded by big money. This is outrageous. Has anyone heard any of this from a reliable source…?
Shotgun would fix that problem
Unfortunately from what I have read…they are so high you don’t even know they are there. We are now no bettwr than the Chinese.
Maybe the small guy could get himself a drone and look for rips and weed lines! I could see it being used to keep the Commercial guys honest but not recreational.
Or perhaps a shoulder fired missle…:((((
As much as I despise the idea of using drones to spy on civilians, I still think that anyone doing illegal activities has it coming, one way or the other.
I have to agree that both parties have really given us a raw deal.
“Sire, it belongs in truth to the Church of God, in whose name I speak, to endure blows and not to inflict them. But it will also please your Majesty to remember that she is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.”…Theodore Beza
Well…these are fradulent laws…I say to each his own. Can an attorney tell us if you can be surveilled without probable cause…?? I know you are not in a home and on public water. I guess you can if they can have roadblocks to check people randomly. This opens however the proverbial Pandoras box. Where does it stop…?
Maybe they should put those millions to creating an enormous reef and we would never have to worry about overfishing again…
Hope this isn’t true. Won’t hold my breath though.
This is absolutely true and even closer to home than you realize. Drones spied on a boat off st augstine last February and 40’cc Florida Marine Patrol met them 10 miles out and found the illegal grouper on their 30 ft cc- boat was confiscated and captain went to jail- i have several reputable fisherman friends in st aug and this did happen- govt been keeping it under the radar and not much publicity about it- i am very pro-freedom and very anti-govt and we have serious dilemmas to face ahead as Americans- by the year 2020 the govt expects to have over 30,000 drones in daily operation …and they aren’t to protect us people…they are to control us and enforce bull**** laws- yes, a fishing law may be a law, but if you feel every law has a place and does good , have fun living in the hell that we on our way to
check out the movie Lawless and use your imagination of how the govt and crazy rules have morphed into the monster of screwed up business it is now- yes it is a movie, but yes prohibition happened and stuff just like that movie went down and yes that was only 80 yrs ago…imagine 80 years from now- people need to be thinking outside the box more, travel more, turn off the (() TV, quit reading the newspaper and imagine all the possiblities- yes im on a rant but (()it if America isn’t breeding a dumber and dumber generation every year and by the time people smell the coffee its gonna be too late- drones are bad news and so are corportations and they are both well on their way to enforce insane fishing rules and then selling the ocean off grid by grid to big business and taking our amazing big blue freedom pond away- goodnight
But, the terrorists are going to get us if we don’t patrol fisherman with drones!!! There is a Taliban on every corner waiting to blow up a building every time someone catches a short seabass!!! That’s the problem with people today. America watches too much tv, lives in fear, and thinks that we need this kind of protection. “Hey, I am not doing anything wrong, so why do I care if the government follows me around and watches me all day?”… I think that the movie “Idiocracy” has already come true…
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Originally posted by RedstripeUnfortunately from what I have read…they are so high you don’t even know they are there. We are now no bettwr than the Chinese.
Hmm. If they are so high you don’t know they are there, then how does one know they are there?
I know a guy who recently got busted by a drone. He was fishing in the Dry Tortugas, practicing fillet and release. They met him at the dock and arrested him.
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If they are so high you don't know they are there, then how does one know they are there?
Because they take some very pretty pictures and display them in court 
We had a small drone circle us 3 times in Broad River last year, and it was only 50’ high. Made a few loops around the boat then headed on upriver.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Fish naked!They may not want to watch…
2005 29’ Triton
Twin 225 Optimax
“REEL EXPLOSIVE”
From these few stories,sounds as if the program is working out well against the bad guys…keep up the good work.
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Originally posted by Cracker LarryI know a guy who recently got busted by a drone. He was fishing in the Dry Tortugas, practicing fillet and release. They met him at the dock and arrested him.
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If they are so high you don't know they are there, then how does one know they are there?
Because they take some very pretty pictures and display them in court
We had a small drone circle us 3 times in Broad River last year, and it was only 50’ high. Made a few loops around the boat then headed on upriver.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
I’m not a fan of big brother watching but if you’re going to break the rules, you have to be willing to live with the consequences.
“I think that rule sucks” probably isn’t a solid legal defense in a court of law.
Bolbie I think we all agree with your point but think about it on a bigger perspective- start with a small perspective even…like your tax money going to buy drones to watch you fish rather than other productive things like education (which our state seriously lack) and the list could go on with that! would you rather people catching a few fish illegally here and there without drones or drones controlling everything and 20 yrs from now the atlantic and gulf fisheries being sold to corporations and foreign countries that have fished out their waters??
George Orwell wrote a book about this called “1984”. He was only off by about 30 years. Some people would let the government stick a camera in their butthole if it meant “catching the bad guys”. I think these things cost about 4 million each. Imagine what would our artificial reef program if each coastal state got 4 million each year for reef building. Which one of those investments would be better for the population of fish and the economy? No brainer!!! I think that’s the problem with the federal government and the people that want to be under watch 24 hours each day, the “no brain” part…
My problem isn’t against prosecuting those that break the law, it’s about the amount of taxpayer money spent compared to the ecological benefit.
I’m sure there are several other ways that my money could be spent that would benefit the marine ecological system far, FAR more than stopping a few morons from keeping illegal fish.
I also love how NMFS is always barking up the wrong tree. Pretty much all of the raping and pillaging happens from Jupiter to Marathon on the East coast. If you want to see what “overfishing” looks like, then a quick dive off of Boynton or south of that and you would get the real picture. There is a reason why all of those “big” fish down there are only an inch longer than the size limit and you swim around looking at juveniles all day. Instead, SC is catching world records every year and they are shoving MPA’s down our throats. Honestly I can’t wait until Cupka, Waugh, and Crabtree decide to move on and ruin something else.