• On Friday, June 8, the Maryland Natural Resources Police seized 1,800 feet of illegal gill net from the Chesapeake Bay near Sharps Island Light.  At 9:50 a.m., NRP received a complaint from a boater that a 38-foot workboat had dropped net in the area and then headed towards Tilghman Island. At 11:05 a.m., officers located and seized three 600-foot sections of newly anchored monofilament gill net.

Used for the commercial harvest of fish, a gill net is maintained in a vertical position in the water with sinkers or floats. It ensnares fish by means of a mesh too small to permit passage of the body of the fish or withdrawal of the head once the posterior margin of the gill covers has passed through the mesh. A drift gill net is not secured or anchored to the bottom, including a net rigged with up to 20 pounds of weight at each end. It must be attended by the licensee in a boat within two miles of the net while it is in waters of the Chesapeake Bay, or within one mile when the net is in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, its coastal bays and their tributaries, or a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. An anchor gill net is a net that is stationary in the water and secured to the bottom by conventional anchors or heavy weights.

NRP is continuing to investigate the incident and urges citizens to report illegal fishing and hunting activities by calling the Catch-a-Poacher 24-Hour Hotline at 1-800-635-6124. The anonymity of the caller is guaranteed.