Shipping Bait to China (Stolen)

[Sterling]

I read this article and it bothered me in a few ways. First any theft - no good. But the bigger issue is, how much baitfish are we shipping to other countries? This was one truck, on one day and it had over 30tons of bunker headed to China. I assume they were taken from this region of the Atlantic. Many of us fear that one of the biggest impacts on some species is a lack of bait.

Any thoughts on how big of an issue this is, or how much we ship overseas?

Here's the article..............................

Tons of bait fish stolen from Linden lot
by Eliot Caroom/For The Star-Ledger
Wednesday April 08, 2009, 6:22 PM
More than 63,000 pounds of bait fish on an intercontinental journey from Cape May to China were seized by thieves early Wednesday morning in Linden, according to the owner of a trucking business where the container of fish was stored.

The fish, worth as much as a small house, were stolen along with their refrigerated trailer, and the owner of the trucking business said it was likely an inside job.

"It's not an open site," said Chris Milanes, the 21-year-old owner of XTL Transportation on East Linden Avenue. "We're all the way in the back. Nobody can see what we've got unless you work here."


Another reason Milanes believes the job was done with inside information: his lot is secured with a combination lock, and all his freelance truck drivers know the combination. Linden police said thieves cut locks on two other trailers which contained furniture and sundry items, but those items were not stolen.

Milanes said XTL is a transportation company that gets work from brokers and distributes jobs to freelance "owner-operators" who drive their own tractor trailers. He rents the yard in Linden, located at the rear of 1410 E. Linden Avenue, where containers wait to be shipped.

"Some of our drivers are saying that they did see an unusual vehicle," Milanes said. In order to steal the container, Milanes said the thieves must have rigged it to a tractor. The lot had surveillance cameras, and the Linden police and XTL are both reviewing the footage.

The fish, Menhaden, are oily, bony, not fit for human consumption and are valued at nearly $130,000, according to Milanes. He said on Wednesday that the fish were insured. The actual owner of the container of fish was unclear. Police said Wednesday afternoon that they had not received an invoice demonstrating ownership of the fish.

Milanes believes the hot fish will not be found.

"You could easily go to Hunts Point market in New York, and they would unload it in 15, 20 minutes, tops," Milanes said.

[Deep C]

Maybe they didn't whack Tony Soprano in the last episode after all...