MECHANICS WANTED
OUTLAW POACHER PIRATES of the CHESAPEAKE: Jody Jackson pleaded guilty to poaching oysters in Little Choptank River sanctuary
CAMBRIDGE MD. – As the great majority of watermen in Virginia and Maryland abide by the law and the regulations of harvesting natural resources of Maryland another outlaw poacher was caught and now has pleaded guilty. A Dorchester County man caught illegally harvesting oysters inside a state sanctuary on November 30, 2017, by Natural 1, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources helicopter, was found guilty and fined $1,000.
Jody Daniel Jackson, 18, of 4202 Saturn Drive, East New Market, Md., pleaded guilty in Dorchester County District Court on April 18, 2018, to a single count of harvesting oysters about 2.5 miles inside a sanctuary in the Little Choptank River.
Additional charges placed by NRP Officer Ferguson of failing to obtain a commercial license, failing to pay the harvester surcharge, failing to measure and return oysters and cultch to the original oyster bed and multiple vessel violations were dropped as part of the April 18 plea bargain.
Jackson faces further sanctions by state regulators that could prohibit him from holding a commercial oyster license or being able to work as a mate.
