NRP Charges Watermen, Hunters with Natural Resources Violations

Maryland Natural Resources Police officers this week charged four men with illegal oyster harvesting in two separate incidents on the Eastern Shore, and three men with hunting violations in two separate incidents in Garret County.

In Talbot County, Herlen Vernon Lynch, 63, and Darnell Galen Lynch, 58, both of Centreville, were charged Tuesday with 20 counts of possession of undersized oysters after officers checked their harvest from Broad Creek. Upon measuring the catch, officers discovered bushels with anywhere from 6 to 30 percent undersized oysters.

The two men are scheduled to appear in Talbot District Court on Jan. 15. Each charge carries a maximum fine of $1,000.

In Wicomico County, just before noon on Monday, an officer on patrol in Salisbury noticed a truck filled with 24 bushel baskets of oysters. The truck did not display a tidal fish license number, as required by state law and the bushel baskets were not properly tagged.

Severn Reid Mister Jr., 57, and Cody Eugene Cavalier, 23, both of Easton were each charged with 12 counts of failing to tag oysters.

They are scheduled to appear in Wicomico District Court on Jan. 6. If found guilty of all counts, each man could be fined a maximum of $6,600.

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