Fish, Crab Poaching Suspects Face Thousands in Fines

Maryland Natural Resources Police officers recently charged two Anne Arundel County men in separate cases with poaching fish and pilfering from crab pots.

A Glen Burnie man faces fines of nearly $200,000 when he appears in Annapolis District Court Nov. 21 on charges he poached numerous undersized striped bass and white perch from the Patapsco River, according to the agency’s website.

Sultan Mahamud Limon, 23, was charged on Aug. 31 by officers on patrol at Fort Smallwood Park. The officers were checking recreational anglers and their catches when they saw Limon using a cast net to harvest fish.

When they checked Limon’s catch, officers counted 116 undersized white perch and 66 undersized striped bass.

If found guilty, Limon could be fined as much as $99,000 for harvesting undersized striped bass, $96,000 for exceeding the daily limit of striped bass, and $685 for harvesting undersized white perch.

On Sept. 16, officers charged a Pasadena man with illegal crabbing near Bodkin Point after numerous complaints from watermen that their crab pots were being pilfered.

Police cited John Allen Schuman, 37, for stealing crabs, possessing a female crab, failing to have a crabbing license and operating a vessel that lacked navigational lights.

Officers knew the crab pots were being emptied at night, so they focused the Maritime Law Enforcement Information Network radar units on the area to determine precisely when the thefts were occurring.

At 8:30 p.m., two officers intercepted Schuman in a vessel without navigational lights. He claimed to be removing crabs from a pot that had become entangled in his boat’s propeller. However, the side of his boat was covered in mud and sediment consistent with pulling crab pots, police said.

Schuman is scheduled to appear in Annapolis District Court on Nov. 21. If convicted of all charges he could be fined as much as $3,500.