Did you know that . . .
You can't just bring home a week's worth of striped bass fillets from your Montauk trip, even if you caught them legally?
Did you know that . . .Here's a scenario many anglers don't know about: You spend a week fishing in Montauk, catching your legal limit of one striped bass per day (28"-31" slot in marine waters). You figure you can fillet all seven bass and bring them home - after all, you caught them legally, right?
Wrong!
New York has a "2-day transportation rule" that limits you to transporting only 2 days' worth of legal take for non-salable fish species. Since striped bass have minimum size requirements, they're classified as "non-salable fish."
The Law: "No more than two days' legal take of non-salable fish may be transported unless a permit is obtained from a DEC Regional Office, or the fish are frozen, processed, and packaged for storage."
What this means: Even though you legally caught 7 bass over 7 days, you can only transport 2 bass home.
The Penalty: Under Environmental Conservation Law Section 71-0925:
- $200 base fine
- Plus $100 for each fish over the 2-day limit
- 5 extra bass = $200 + ($100 × 5) = $700 total
- Get a DEC Regional Office permit beforehand
- Have fish properly frozen, processed, and packaged
- Are transporting "salable fish" (no size/season restrictions)
Always check transportation rules, not just daily limits!