Md. Man Sentenced to 6 Months in Jail For Poaching Oysters

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Wicomico County man has been sentenced to six months in the Wicomico County Detention Center for oyster poaching.

The Department of Natural Resources says 33-year-old Adam Rodney Antes, of Tyaskin, was charged on Jan. 11 with eight counts of poaching after officers measured his catch and found four bushels containing 55 percent, 39 percent, 32 percent and 29 percent undersized oysters.

Antes admitted to dredging oysters just outside Cedar Hill Harbor on the Nanticoke River the previous night.

Four days after he was charged, Antes was permanently banned from commercially fishing in Maryland by an administrative law judge for poaching violations unrelated the Jan. 10 incident.

Burns had accumulated 60 points on his tidal fishing license over two years.

Judge Michael Burns said the revocation, dated Jan. 15, "was reasonable" given the extent of Antes' actions.

Last week, Antes, who was already on two years' probation for an oyster poaching case from 2015, was ordered to serve time at the Wicomico County Detention Center.

The other seven charges were placed on the stet docket, which means they may be re-opened at any time within one year if the judge's conditions are violated.

Follow @CBSBaltimore on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook