Posted on 01/31/2009 5:31:04 AM PST by NellieMae
A 23-year-old transient was sentenced to 10 days in County Jail on Wednesday for catching and cooking a federally protected steelhead trout from San Luis Obispo Creek. Victor Manuel Silva was convicted of illegally taking and possessing wildlife. Wildlife officials said the poaching was a blow to the species because the fish was an egg-carrying female that was killed before she had a chance to spawn. Her eggs were strewn along the banks of the creek.
A homeless man was sentenced to 10 days for cooking this steelhead. CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS Poll: What do you think of criminally charging a homeless man for eating a protected species? It's a protected species for a reason. Let the poor man eat! A warning would have been fair, but charges are extreme.
Silva was arrested Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Elks Lane Bridge over San Luis Obispo Creek. Warden Teri Hickey had responded to the area as a result of a tip. When she arrived, she found a group of three or four homeless men camped out beneath the bridge, cooking a large fish over a fire and getting ready to eat it. “They had slices of lemon and a loaf of sourdough bread,” Fish and Game Lt. Dean Hileman said. “It was almost a meal fit for a king.” Silva admitted catching the fish from the creek. He had no identification and was arrested. Another man in the group, who had outstanding warrants, was also arrested.
(Excerpt) Read more at sanluisobispo.com ...
Well, at least he had a roof over his head and three square meals for ten days.
I would have preferred the bridge and fish dinner.
Teach a man to fish and he gets 4 squares and a cot for 10 days.
If you try to feed yourself, and refuse the government cheese, you go to jail.
It sound like he broke the law. What’s the controversy here?
If people want unrestricted fishing (and hunting), then go after the EPA and endangered-species legislation. Don’t get all mushy over a person who won’t get a job and buy food like the rest of us have to.
No controversy here. Just thought someone might like to read this.
It’s hard for me to get angry at a man who took the initiative to feed himself, without stealing from others and without taking a government handout.
What’s the controversy, you ask? There is no mention of dill anywhere in the article! Do I have to mention Thunderbird or Mad Dog 20/20 will overpower the delicate salmon? Finally, it was a poor pun about “poaching” the salmon.
He did steal from others. The fish was not his.
I'm just saying that the needle of my outrage meter isn't even twitching.
By taking an egg-bearing female, he stole from anyone in the future who might legally fish for this species in the appropriate season.
There were a lot easier ways to get put in jail. and wouldn’t have to go through the headache of fishing and cleaning. If I was ass out homeless for some reason, jail would be a vacation.
Do you believe that everything on Earth, every earthworm, every bird, every grain of sand is “owned” by someone?
Where’s my sand?
I’m not “outraged”; I don’t do outrage, it’s far too much effort. However, I do think it’s appropriate that a person who broke the law take the consequences, “homeless” or not. Presumably they couldn’t fine him, since he’d spent his money on lemon sauce and sourdough bread, so a brief stint in jail seems proportional to me.
I love dill, myself. (We had it all over the garden a couple of summers ago, but the oregano seems to have crowded it out.) And even the sourdough bread is too strong to eat with a mild trout.
At Home Depot, they will sell you all you want.
Come and dig it out of the sand dunes without permission and there will be trouble.
Let me guess, Woody Guthrie Fan?
When you spend money to maintain something you tend to want to have a say in how it is used and disposed of.
Sheesh...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.