1/1/2020
A Weirton man has been charged with violating a new hunting law prohibiting edible meat from freshly killed big game or game fish from being wasted.
Gerald E. Robinson, 60, of 225 Florida Ave. has been charged by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources with wanton waste of a big game animal for which he faces a $2,500 fine, 10 to 100 days in jail or both.
Robinson, who has denied the allegation, is set to appear in Brooke County Magistrate Court on Feb. 4. According to court documents, Robinson was seen by a resident throwing deer carcasses over a guardrail in Wellsburg on Nov. 30.
The documents state an investigating officer with the state Division of Natural Resources found two carcasses from which only the hindquarters and tenderloins had been removed, leaving other edible meat untouched.
Robinson also has been charged with exceeding his bag limit after killing an 11-point buck while in the McAdoo Ridge area of Wellsburg on Nov. 29.
In March the state Legislature passed a law stating it’s unlawful “to let any edible portion of big game or game fish to go to waste needlessly.”
It states it’s unlawful to remove the head, hide, antlers, tusks, paws, claws, gallbladder, teeth, beards or spurs from an animal and leave the carcass to waste.
The law defines edible meat from big game as the meat of the front quarters to the knee, the meat of the hind quarters to the hock or the meat along the backbone between the front quarters and hind quarters, “provided that an edible portion of a wild turkey is the meat of the breast only.”
The law defines edible portions of game fish as the fillet meat from the gill plate to the tail fin.
Those found guilty of wasting meat from fish face a fine of $100 to $500, 10 to 100 days in jail or both.
The temporary suspension of one’s hunting or fishing license also is a potential penalty for the crimes.
Many states have adopted similar laws to discourage poaching.