Ed Wahl
11-25-2012, 06:29 PM
From Channel 10 news site.
Brian Thomas was furious, watching fish and game wardens pull out hundreds of pounds of frozen fish from the house of his neighbor. That couple was arrested as suspected poachers. "It's ridiculous, man," said Thomas, an angler himself. "I pay for a fishing license every year to do it the right way. These guys take fish they're not supposed to. I just think it's a shame." Ly Nguyen, 49, and his wife Cuc Nguyen, 48, are two of 14 suspects arrested in a Sacramento raid on suspected poachers Friday morning. Wardens claimed they sport-fished for striped bass and other fish, often taking over-limits, then sold the fish on the black market. "Honestly, this is the tip of the iceberg," said warden Steve Stiehr. "This is one of hundreds of houses in just the Sacramento arrea that have stuff like this. A lot of these groups fish almost every day. I'm sure they make good money doing this." In the garage of the house on Auberry Way, an aluminum fishing boat sat on a trailer. Wardens exposed a bench seat modified as a hidden compartment where they say the Nguyens would hide over-limits. While under surveillance, the couple was seen pulling fish from the compartment, according to Stiehr. "On a normal angler check we would not find this compartment," he said. The California limit for stripers is two fish per person per day and the fish must be at least 18 inches long. Wardens say during one day of surveillance, they saw the Nguyen couple pull a total of nine stipers out of their boat. Most of their freezer was filled with bags of bluegill and sunfish. Wardens said those bags sold for $10. "You can go out and catch $10 worth of fish like this in 15, 20 minutes. Add the striped bass at $2 a pound, you get a 20 pound fish, that's a lot of money," said Stiehr. Among those arrested in the sweep were the store manager and seafood manager of S F Supermarket on Mack Road. Wardens said the store bought some of the black market fish and re-sold it for a high profit. It's illegal to sell any fish taken on sport fishing licenses. Those arrested at the market were store manager Chichi Peng and seafood manager Thuan Nguyen. "There's no question about whether or not they knew," said Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish & Game, "because they were taking these fish, in this case striped bass and then relabeling them as a different species of fish that is lawful to sell." Wardens said those involved could make as much as $2,000 a week, often selling the fish on a regular basis out of a pickup on street corners or shopping center parking lots. "It got to the point where their normal customers would get accustomed to them arriving at the same time and place every day and they'd show up and buy the fish," said Foy. Fish & Game officials said such poaching depletes the fisheries and is unfair to both commercial and sport anglers who follow the law. Twelve of the suspects will be charged with poaching, a misdemeanor; and conspiracy, a felony. Two others were arrested on drug charges when one of the houses raided allegedly contained a large quantity of marijuana packaged for sale. "Unfortunately, we could do this full time and still not stop it," said Stiehr. "I think this is huge. It's going on everywhere."
News10/KXTV
Brian Thomas was furious, watching fish and game wardens pull out hundreds of pounds of frozen fish from the house of his neighbor. That couple was arrested as suspected poachers. "It's ridiculous, man," said Thomas, an angler himself. "I pay for a fishing license every year to do it the right way. These guys take fish they're not supposed to. I just think it's a shame." Ly Nguyen, 49, and his wife Cuc Nguyen, 48, are two of 14 suspects arrested in a Sacramento raid on suspected poachers Friday morning. Wardens claimed they sport-fished for striped bass and other fish, often taking over-limits, then sold the fish on the black market. "Honestly, this is the tip of the iceberg," said warden Steve Stiehr. "This is one of hundreds of houses in just the Sacramento arrea that have stuff like this. A lot of these groups fish almost every day. I'm sure they make good money doing this." In the garage of the house on Auberry Way, an aluminum fishing boat sat on a trailer. Wardens exposed a bench seat modified as a hidden compartment where they say the Nguyens would hide over-limits. While under surveillance, the couple was seen pulling fish from the compartment, according to Stiehr. "On a normal angler check we would not find this compartment," he said. The California limit for stripers is two fish per person per day and the fish must be at least 18 inches long. Wardens say during one day of surveillance, they saw the Nguyen couple pull a total of nine stipers out of their boat. Most of their freezer was filled with bags of bluegill and sunfish. Wardens said those bags sold for $10. "You can go out and catch $10 worth of fish like this in 15, 20 minutes. Add the striped bass at $2 a pound, you get a 20 pound fish, that's a lot of money," said Stiehr. Among those arrested in the sweep were the store manager and seafood manager of S F Supermarket on Mack Road. Wardens said the store bought some of the black market fish and re-sold it for a high profit. It's illegal to sell any fish taken on sport fishing licenses. Those arrested at the market were store manager Chichi Peng and seafood manager Thuan Nguyen. "There's no question about whether or not they knew," said Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish & Game, "because they were taking these fish, in this case striped bass and then relabeling them as a different species of fish that is lawful to sell." Wardens said those involved could make as much as $2,000 a week, often selling the fish on a regular basis out of a pickup on street corners or shopping center parking lots. "It got to the point where their normal customers would get accustomed to them arriving at the same time and place every day and they'd show up and buy the fish," said Foy. Fish & Game officials said such poaching depletes the fisheries and is unfair to both commercial and sport anglers who follow the law. Twelve of the suspects will be charged with poaching, a misdemeanor; and conspiracy, a felony. Two others were arrested on drug charges when one of the houses raided allegedly contained a large quantity of marijuana packaged for sale. "Unfortunately, we could do this full time and still not stop it," said Stiehr. "I think this is huge. It's going on everywhere."
News10/KXTV