Eight men from Rock Hall that were arrested last week for rockfish poaching are the first suspects to face a new, tiered penalty system, which imposes penalties on both first time offenders and repeat offenders, based on the severity of their crime. Two of the eight men—William Howard Beck, 43, and John Franklin Riggs, 43—were charged with oyster poaching by the Natural Resource Police (NRP) in December, and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) subsequently suspended Beck’s rights to catch oysters for the season due to repeat offenses.

“Repeat offenders will not be tolerated,” said Secretary John Griffin. “The State, its partners and stakeholders are working together to preserve our resources for future generations of Marylanders and we take these crimes against our public resources very seriously.”

Under the new system, which went into effect February 22, crimes are now organized into three tiers, which carry both immediate penalties and points that can be accrued to suspend a license. For egregious violations, DNR can suspend a license on a first offense.

Beck and Riggs are accustomed to facing a judge for natural resource violations. Both were caught at 2:30 a.m. Christmas morning – well outside legal harvesting hours – with seven bushels of oysters on their boats. Less than a week later NRP charged Beck with seven bushels of oysters illegally harvested by dredge in an area reserved for patent tonging and oyster diving.

On February 23, NRP arrested and charged Beck with possessing striped bass greater than 36 inches and mutilating striped bass to the extent that size could not be determined. NRP officers caught Beck when they checked J & J Seafood in Rock Hall and found striped bass with cut tails.

NRP charged Riggs on February 24, with failing to check in striped bass during the required times. NRP officers located striped bass hidden in the cabin of a boat belonging to Riggs. The fish were not checked into a DNR check station within three hours of completing a fishing trip and before 9:00 pm.

Riggs and Beck are also facing charges of failing to properly mark gill nets in the Chesapeake Bay and setting or maintaining an unattended striped bass gill net. On February 24, NRP officers located several unattended striped bass gill nets in the Chesapeake Bay and were able to identify the nets as belonging to Riggs and Beck.

Also during the week of February 22:

• Lewis Herbert Cain Sr., 63, Christopher Wesley Lingerman, 37, and Joel Colon, 29, were charged with possession of striped bass greater than 36 inches. The three men were charged when NRP officers boarded a commercial fishing boat on February 23 in Rock Hall Harbor and found three oversize striped bass hidden in a compartment under the deck of the boat.

• James Daniel Elburn, 51, Donnie Bartus Collier, 55, and William Bartus Collier, 81, were charged with striped bass violations when NRP found hidden fish in the forward compartment of their fishing boat on February 23. All three individuals were charged with possessing striped bass greater than 36 inches. Elburn and Collier were charged with two counts of mutilating striped bass to the extent that size could not be determined and catching striped bass in excess of their daily catch limits.

Under changes to law made by the General Assembly in 2009, each of these individuals, if convicted, could face up to $1000 for a first offense and up to $2000 for each subsequent offense. Additionally, on February 22, 2010, the Department&rsqu