The Tennessee Wildlife Federation (TWF) is expressing outrage after learning of recent charges filed against two Commercial Fishermen on Chickamauga Lake, as reported on www.Chattanoogan.com/Outdoors on Tuesday.
The TWF is a private conservation group which lobbies the Legislature on behalf of hunters and fishermen in Tennessee.
The news release distributed by TWF today cites the article published on Chattanoogan.com Outdoors which outlines charges filed against commercial fisherman Bill Sligh and his helper, Adam Coulter.
According the Tennessee Wildlife Resources officers, the two men strung nets well within 100 yards of the mouth of the slough and strung almost all the way across one finger of the slough - a violation of state commercial fishing regulations. Officers say they also observed Coulter striking a striped bass in the head with a blunt object to kill it before throwing it back in the water.
Officers say they discovered the men had a total of 11 catfish over 34 inches in length. State law, rules and regulations allow commercial anglers to keep no more than one catfish per day more than 34 inches in length.
TWF CEO Mike Butler expressed his concern and anger over the alleged violations by stating, "this appears to be a gross violation of Tennessee's wildlife laws and our hope is that the legal system will utilize all available means to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law."
The two men have a mandatory court appearance on April 24th in General Sessions Court in Rhea County in front of Judge Jimmy McKenzie.
Butler went on to say, "There are approximately 800,000 people who fish for sport fish in Tennessee annually. Violations like the ones reported in Mr. Simms article highlight the damage that can be done to Tennessee's fisheries resources when just two commercial fishermen don't follow the rules. And the impacts don't stop with only the fisheries resource. Rural areas in Tennessee rely on the economic impacts that Tennessee's sportsmen and women bring to those areas and without a healthy and vibrant fishery these local economies can be hurt."