In their ongoing efforts to crack down on the illegal harvest of marine species, conservation officers with the Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife joined forces with lawmen in New York State to inspect recreational fishing vessels on Raritan and Sandy Hook bays and the Atlantic Ocean.

During the day-long operation on Aug. 19, lawmen contacted upward of 350 fishermen while checking vessels returning from fishing at all popular boat ramps in the area and patrolling the bays and ocean waters. Officers from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation manned patrol boats near Staten Island and in offshore waters.

New Jersey Fish and Wildlife’s Marine and Central Region conservation officers issued the following summonses and written warnings:

• 16 summonses for possessing summer flounder less than 16½ inches involving 56 fish
• 5 summonses for exceeding the limit on bluefish involving 59 bluefish
• 5 summonses for exceeding the limit on scup involving 48 fish
• 2 summonses for possessing tautog less than 14 inches involving 2 fish
• 1 summons issued for possessing striped bass less than 28 inches involving 2 fish
• 5 summonses issued for possessing hard crabs less than 4½ inches involving 25 crabs
• 6 written warnings for harvesting hard crabs recreationally from the Newark Bay Complex

Also, New York’s conservation officers issued nearly a dozen summonses including striped bass violations for undersized fish, over-the-limit harvests and recreational harvesting for the purpose of commercial sale as well as for harvesting undersized summer flounder, tautog and black sea bass.