The Peru Gazette

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) enforce the 71 Chapters of NY Environmental Conservation Law, protecting fish and wildlife and preserving environmental quality across New York.

On Oct. 27, ECOs Jeremy Fadden and Jeff Hovey were on patrol near the Port Douglas boat launch on Lake Champlain in Chesterfield when they saw a fishing boat returning with three fishermen aboard. The fishermen held valid Vermont fishing licenses, but their catch of landlocked salmon drew the officers’ attention. The subjects were in possession of eight landlocked salmon fillets with no fish carcasses aboard the vessel. The officers explained to the fishermen that landlocked salmon cannot be filleted and possessed on the waters of the State, as there is no way to ensure the actual legal length of the fish once filleted. The fish fillets were seized as evidence and two of the fishermen were issued appearance tickets for possession of salmon dismembered beyond the gills and viscera being removed.