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News Release
RI Department of Environmental Management
235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
For Release: September 25, 2008
Contact: Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402

DEM AND CONNECTICUT ENVIRONMENTAL POLICE INVESTIGATE ILLEGAL LANDING AND SALE OF STRIPED BASS
RI Seafood Dealer and Pawcatuck Fisherman Arrested as a Result of Joint Investigation

PROVIDENCE - A Rhode Island seafood dealer and a Pawcatuck, Connecticut fisherman were arrested Monday in connection with the illegal landing and sale of striped bass, according to the Department of Environmental Management's Division of Law Enforcement.

The seafood dealer, John J. Guerrieri, 50, of South Kingstown, was charged with buying seafood without a Connecticut seafood dealers' license and operating a motor vehicle without a license.

The fisherman, Sean W. Bradshaw, 44, of Pawcatuck, CT was charged with the landing/ sale of striped bass without a commercial license, commercial fishing without a vessel permit, possession of untagged striped bass, and the commercial sale of scup without a license and during the closed season.

The arrests took place Monday at Bradshaw's home in Pawcatuck, following a joint investigation by Rhode Island environmental police officers and Connecticut environmental conservation police. Both individuals will be arraigned in Connecticut.

The environmental police officers acted on information that Bradshaw was catching bass and bringing striped bass back to his dock in the Pawcatuck River near his home. He would ice and store the fish at his home and Guerrieri, the Rhode Island seafood dealer, would then come to his house and buy them.

At the time of the arrest, officers seized 42 striped bass, with a total weight of 971 pounds and 89 scup, with a total weight of 87 pounds. With the fair market value for commercial striped bass at around $3.00 per pound, the estimated value of the bass was $2,913. All of the fish was donated to the Amos House in Providence.

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*Photos of the bass at Amos House are available by calling Gail Mastrati at 222-4700 ext. 2402
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