New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police Officers late in 2025 issued several tickets for the illegal harvest and selling of striped bass.
According to a DEC report, in Nov. 2025, ECOs Berketis and Smith responded to a report of a group transferring oversized striped bass into a cooler behind a residence in the Village of Freeport. ECO Smith arrived at the location first, discovered the reported residence was really a deli, and observed a large cooler with 18 striped bass ranging in size from 28 to 41 inches.