In Reply to: Idiocy strikes again. GW killed on the Huntington Beach Pier posted by Max Bottomtime on August 25, 2011 at 13:46:27:

I contacted the DFG in order to express my outrage over the incident. I don't know what the poachers' penalty will be, but I would like to see something like a multi-year revocation of fishing privileges in addition to a stiff fine. It's hard to determine what an appropriate penalty for removing an apex predator from the ecosystem should be. I did a bit of research and found that a fisherman in Oregon was fined $299 for taking a keeping a white in 2009. Granted it was in Oregon and in 2009, but it seems utterly inadequate to reflect the value of an apex predator to its environment and its value to us. For a recreational angler charged with poaching, I would think something like a 10 to 15 year revocation of all fishing privileges and somewhere upwards of a $1,000 fine is getting in the ballpark...

Yes, halibug, I saw the video of the angler with the multiple threshers. Was he fishing for his block? Was he stocking his freezer for a year? Apparently for him, the ocean is little different than a supermarket. Very sad.