Va. fishermen plead guilty to rockfish trafficking

Greenbelt, Md. (AP) – Two commercial fishermen from Virginia
have pleaded guilty to illegally catching and selling rockfish from
the Chesapeake Bay.

Federal prosecutors say Jerry Decatur Sr. of Stafford, Va.
pleaded guilty Friday to illegally taking and overharvesting
striped bass. Kenneth Dent of Dumfries, Va. pleaded guilty to
trafficking illegally taken striped bass.

Authorities say the two men, along with fish wholesalers Robert
Moore Sr. and his son Robert Moore Jr., illegally harvested and
sold hundreds of thousands of pounds of highly protected striped
bass.

The men violated the Lacey Act, a federal law that bars the
creation of false records for fish and wildlife or transporting
illegally harvested wildlife.

Several more fishermen are also charged in the scheme.