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Waterman jailed for illegal oysters taken from Patuxent
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009
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A single boat was dredging for oysters off the Town Creek bulkhead in the Patuxent River last Oct. 9. Four months later the captain of that boat was ordered by a judge to spend 90 days in jail for the undersized oysters that were onboard.
Two men, including 22-year-old Joseph Bruce Janda Jr., the captain, worked the patent tongs, the large hydraulic cages that dip into the water to scoop oysters from the sea floor. The tongs made their way in and out of the water that morning, sometimes bringing oysters to the boat.
Based on a tip from a caller, Maryland Natural Resources Police pulled up to the boat, called Wicked Ways, and after seeing a problem with the way its identification numbers were displayed they boarded the 42-foot vessel.
The officers noticed oysters that looked undersized among the several bushels on deck and took two bushels for inspection.
One basket was filled with about a third undersized oysters, and the other had more than 42 percent of illegal oysters, according to information that came out about the violation during a court appearance of Janda's last Friday.
The Tilghman Island native had come across the Chesapeake Bay that day in October to dredge for oysters, hoping to sell them and make enough money to pay for a new house payment and other expenses.
It wasn't the first time he had knowingly fished undersized oysters and been caught, but it could be the last. Janda was given 90 days in jail and said he has already sold the oyster equipment and has the boat Wicked Ways for sale, too.
"I'm getting off the water, basically. I do have another job," doing construction work, Janda told St. Mary's District Judge John Slade in court. "I've given it up completely," he said of his livelihood on the water.
Chastising Janda, Slade said the man has "no regard at all for the natural resource laws in the state."
Janda said, while holding back tears, that he hoped not to serve any time in prison so as to be with his new girlfriend, her daughter and another child on the way.
"I know I have done wrong in the past," he said.
The judge gave Janda $140 in fines and court costs for citations citing lack of proper fire extinguishers on the vessel and for not having his tidal license onboard. He also gave him a year in jail with all but 90 days suspended and allowed for work release privileges.
"You can work on the land … but you're not going to be fishing, I can tell you that," Slade said.
Janda will not be able to apply for any recreational or commercial fishing license during three years of probation following his jail time. He will also have to attend a course on boater safety.
"It's tough out there on the water nowadays," said Jerome Janda II, Joseph Janda's uncle. "He was trying to make his house payments."
The elder Janda helped raise Joseph Janda the last 10 years.
"I told him you just can't keep doing this," Jerome Janda said.
The prosecutor at the trial said that the state attorney's office had received a substantial outcry from the community asking that something be done in light of Janda's repeated natural resource violations.
That outcry included an organized effort by members of the Coastal Conservation Association of Maryland.
"We believe natural resource criminals ought to be prosecuted seriously," said Scott McGuire, president of the local chapter of the CCA. While pleased with the conviction, he said, "It's unfortunate when it affects someone's life.
"We don't want to target people," only the crimes, he said.
Several natural resources police attended the trial, including the officer who cited Janda last fall. Sgt. Frank Ditmars said while the spot was legal for dredging, a fisherman cannot keep undersized oysters on the boat.
He said the natural resources police rely on tips from citizens and will investigate such calls, although they do not always turn out to be wrongdoing.
"We get a lot of stuff like that, people watching," and calling in tips, Ditmars said.
Last Wednesday, two days prior to Janda's St. Mary's court appearance, natural resource police charged Janda and Jeremy V. Shockley, 35, of Church Creek with multiple commercial oyster harvesting violations. The charges are the result of an investigation that started with an incident on Jan. 26, according to a Department of Natural Resources press release.
Janda was charged in Dorchester County with 22 counts of possession of undersized or unculled oysters and one count of landing oysters in an unapproved container.
Shockley was charged in Dorchester County with 15 counts of possession of undersized or unculled oysters and one count of landing oysters in an unapproved container.
