Throughout September, New York State Environmental Conservation Officers have been hard at work enforcing fishing regulations in New York City and Long Island. The following press release was published on September 26, 2025.
Statewide Fishing Compliance Checks – New York, Nassau, Queens, Suffolk Counties
From nabbing netters to stopping illegal sales, ECOs downstate encountered a little bit of everything during their fishing compliance checks in recent weeks. Here are some of the more notable cases:
On Sept. 7, ECOs Ableson, Baldwin, Toomey, and Lieutenant Levanway patrolled East Broadway in Manhattan in response to complaints of people unlawfully selling fish on the sidewalk. Officer Ableson observed several vendors illegally selling tautog (not yet in season), undersized oyster toadfish, undersized black sea bass, and invasive Asian clams. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Levanway and ECOs Baldwin and Toomey quickly approached the vendors to prevent them from leaving or disposing of evidence. The Officers issued eight tickets for various violations of New York’s Environmental Conservation Law for unlawful commercialization of fish, including possession of out-of-season and undersized fish and shellfish.
On Sept. 15, ECOs Baldwin and Toomey returned to the same area in response to similar complaints. One vendor ran away when they saw the Officers, but ECO Baldwin approached a second vendor, ticketed the morning of Sept. 7, observed attempting to sell 10 out-of-season tautogs and six undersized oyster toadfish. The Officers issued three additional tickets for offering for sale untagged tautog, possession of out-of-season tautog, and possession of undersized oyster toadfish.
On Sept. 14, New York State Parks Police notified ECOs Franz and Smith of a group of anglers trespassing at Jones Beach State Park, Nassau County, illegally using nets to catch fish, and in possession of a short fluke. ECOs responded to the location and discovered five five-gallon buckets, and a large tote filled with thousands of Atlantic silverside baitfish, commonly known as spearing. They also found winter flounder caught out of season, undersized summer flounder (fluke), undersized black sea bass, and undersized oyster toadfish, none of which are legally allowed to be caught recreationally by net. The investigation also identified killifish, spot, and multiple species of crabs, including an undersized blue claw crab. Three of the individuals were fishing without a marine registration. ECOs issued a total of 29 tickets to the group for not possessing a food fish license, possession of out-of-season and undersized fish, no marine registration, possession of undersized blue claw crab, trespassing on property closed to the public, and illegal parking.
its about time now what happens to them ?