Tidepoolers beware! When at Hendry’s beach [earlier this month], Fish and Game was patrolling.
Unfortunately I witnessed the only Hispanic family on the beach be ticketed for 3 small crabs that the kids had caught and had in their buckets.
The fish and game warden on the beach was extremely rude and intimidating. I then watched him let other families release buckets of crabs back into the ocean without ticketing them.
While all for protecting the wildlife in our area, the way in which the fish and game warden was conducting himself was extremely disheartening to see. Not sure if anyone else encountered him?
A warning for anyone else taking advantage of the king tide!
We have lost a substantial part of the natural life forms that made this state wonderful. I have watched as folks over fished, took protected species, ‘harvested’ small life in tide pools just for the fun of the moment and letting such dies on the sand or parking lot. It is good that enforcement exists. Being present on the beaches serves multiple purposes besides catching one offender. If the agents were rude and selective in enforcement that is wrong but their purpose there is not. I wonder if the author of this post contact the agency to notify them of this conduct?
That sounds made up. IF they received tickets they would likely keep the crabs as evidence. More likely a written warning from the Fish & Game who are keeping out wildlife safe.
ZIPS – have you been asleep for the past year? How is it that far fetched to believe any law enforcement officers treating non-whites harsher than others? Sure, it very well could be they were only given a written warning, but to completely dismiss the possibly is very reflective of your acceptance of the abject racism which allows for violence against non-criminals based solely on their skin color.
Quite a leap there sacjon. Article doesn’t say anything about the others being white, brown, black, purple or pink. Could have been the family that received the written ticket was disrespectful to the officer while the other families were grateful for the officer educating them about protecting wildlife.
SAIL – nice job failing at reading words, that was colossal! I never said anything definitive about this particular situation. Read it again. Now again. Nope, all I said was it’s naive to assume as ZIPS did that this story was “made up” given the blatant racism we all see everyday on our streets by certain law enforcement officers.
Now read my comment a third time. Then once more, out loud. Now think about what you said.
The OP stated that they were the only Hispanic family on the beach.
How could you possibly know what the race was of the law enforcement officer?
Zippy we will get the crayons out and draw something you can understand.
ZIPS – NO one, absolutely NO ONE said anything about this officer’s race.
Do you really not know how to process the words you see?
You’ve heard of cellphone cameras, haven’t you, pinhead?
> IF they received tickets they would likely keep the crabs as evidence. More likely a written warning from the Fish & Game who are keeping out wildlife safe.
That sounds made up.
Fish and game people are guys with nothing to do. I have seen 3 of them waiting for one lobster diver – hoping he doesn’t have a fishing license when he comes ashore.
Wow, comprehensive assessment there – one instance? These guys are law enforcement. They do all sorts of things to protect our wildlife. I’m thankful they’re out there. Anytime I’ve ever interacted with them they were nothing but professional. I always appreciate seeing them out there, because without their presence our fisheries and other wildlife would get decimated by a minority of folks who are poacher criminals. They have to deal with some real jackholes with crap attitudes that are anti-LE everyday.
Are you one of those folks who complains that cops are lazy too?
BASIC – I agree with you 100% on supporting fish and game.That said, we can’t just assume none of them are jerks.
I can’t stand “sportsmen” who ignore regulations, poach in protected areas or whine about having to buy a license to fish or hunt. Heck, in many, more civilized countries, you have to do much more than pay a fee. In most European countries, you need to take classes on conservation, technique and pay a hefty amount to be able to fish public waters.
LIke gun ownership, I do wish we had more required education prior to just handing anyone a license who can pay the paltry fee.
It must be exhausting trying to racialize every aspect of life like this.
SURF – it must be exhausting hating everyone so hard all the time. How do you sleep with so much fear? How do you enjoy life thinking everything someone says is due to an “agenda?” How do you tell yourself you’re a good person when you support racism, child rapists walking free, fascism, taking money from poor people to help billionaires stay out of bankruptcy and all the other objectively awful things MAGA stands for?
Don’t have an aneurysm trying to politicize protecting our local wildlife from ignorant beach goers.
Hey the ICE supporter showed up.
SURFKOOK – you’re the only one here who politicized this. Then again, I don’t expect a MAGAt to understand the meaning of the words they use.
Can you imagine how exhausting it is for those being “racialized”? Being harassed and treated worse than others because of your skin color is not only exhausting, it’s kinda devastating tbh.
Hooray for protecting tidepools from ignorant idiots! Fish and Wildlife should give citations and then also hand out brochures, educating these “tide poolers” as to the damage being done. No one should be tromping around in the tide pools and “harvesting” hapless critters. OP (original poster) is completely in the wrong on this issue: Keep people out of the tide pools. Keep people from damaging these delicate ecosystems.
There are conservation laws in place for a reason. Many live specimens collected for family fun end up dead. The OP has no way of knowing if those ticketed had anything other types of specimens in the bucket or insight into a variety of other reasons the officer decided to cite rather than warn. I have run into unfriendly fish and game over the years here even though I was friendly and fishing within the regulations. I have run into friendly ones too.
F&G do a good job. I’m sorry that someone who doesn’t understand what they witnessed, assumed the worst. There is nothing wrong with going to the tide pools and looking for critters. There is nothing wrong with viewing. You have no right to collect crabs, or any living creature and remove them from their habitat and home. I know many F&G deputies and wardens. 99% of them are very good people looking to protect the environment and coastal waters from poaching and over fishing. I get it, if an adult picks up crab to show their children, but then gently place it back where you found it, nothing wrong there. Putting them in a bucket? No. My kids were raised to leave wildlife alone. Viewing doesn’t mean taking or collecting or harvesting. Also, moshing around in the pools is not safe for your kids or the critters living in them. Tread lightly and carefully. I have an uncle who is F&G and can go on and on about the bad things that happen offshore and inshore. There is a valid reason they exist and have a job to do. You complained about this family being cited. Unless you were right there and heard the entire exchange and the entire scenario, you can’t say really what went on. I’ve seen people get ticketed all along our coast line. What if it was fifteen families with 3 kids each with buckets. That is a lot of wildlife being carelessly displaced. Many of you are arguing about race in this thread…..this has nothing to do with skin color. Every F&G employee that I know, besides my uncle, are Hispanic. No need to go there. That’s ridiculous.
KNEIN – I agree completely, HOWEVER…. I know and have met MANY DFG guys and all were white guys. Of course, that’s not saying you’re wrong or anything but, like in any LE position, there can and likely will be some jerks. Maybe this guy was one? Who knows other than the family that experienced this.
Again, not saying this was necessarily race driven, but to outright dismiss the possibility of a racist LE officer, especially in this day and age, is just naive.
I have been a commercial fisherman in California for almost 50 years so it would be safe to say that I have had my share of experiences with DFW wardens during this time. While many were “white guys” just as many that I encountered were Asian, Hispanic, and Filipino. I might also add that a few of these “guys” were women. OK, so some of them have been dicks and borderline sociopaths hiding behind a badge and a gun, but overall I have found most them to be dedicated to protecting wildlife.
SURFBUM – precisely my point.
Thanks for that.