"Fish Pirates" Making Millions On Chesapeake Bay Stripers

February 2, 2009 By: Marshall Cutchin

In a case that may prove the extensive corruption of the commercial striped bass fishery, federal and state investigators have uncovered a highly successful black market in Maryland and Virginia, and say that poachers have organized to illegally sell several millions of dollars worth of the fish to markets and restaurants for at least five years. “The timing couldn’t be worse for Maryland. On Monday, the region’s fishing regulatory agency is to meet in Alexandria, Va., and state officials fear that the news could trigger harsh penalties that would cripple the multimillion-dollar commercial fishing industry in the Chesapeake Bay and drive up retail fish prices.” Candus Thomson in the Baltimore Sun. (Thanks to reader Zach Matthews for this link.)