An oysterman lost his license, an illegal hunter was sentenced under a new state law, and a man accused of stealing state park passes and waterfowl hunting stamps was arrested in recent cases handled by the Maryland Natural Resources Police.
Todd Hamilton Ruark A Cambridge man with a history of natural resources violations has been permanently banned from harvesting oysters by an administrative law judge.
Todd Hamilton Ruark, 36, was cited by officers for power dredging in a hand tong only area of the Tred Avon River Dec. 13, and again Dec. 19.
At a revocation hearing earlier this month, Ruark claimed he unintentionally violated the hand-tong boundary when strong tides pushed his workboat into the reserved area. He told Judge Thomas Welshko that he deserved leniency because he had not encroached very far into the hand-tong area.
After hearing from the officers and watching the video they, the judge disagreed. He called Ruark’s testimony not credible and noted that he was caught more than a football field-length inside the restricted area. The water, he noted, was calm.
“I conclude that on both dates, [Ruark] knew where the hand tong only line was an intentionally crossed it to harvest oysters using a power dredge,” Welshko wrote in his ruling.
In December, Ruark was charged with nine additional violations stemming from illegal oyster harvesting. He was issued citations for: exceeding his daily catch limit by three bushels; harvesting oysters after hours; possessing untagged oysters; four counts of failing to store oysters in the proper containers; selling oysters on the internet without a dealer’s license; and selling oysters without a state health certificate.
He failed to appear Thursday in Talbot County District Court.