A full-fledged jury trial over an alleged case of clam poaching is set to begin later this month in New Haven Superior Court. The man state officials are accusing of shellfish piracy is Nicholas Crismale, a veteran Branford fisherman who also happens to be president of the Lobstermen’s Association of Connecticut. His sixth-degree larceny case is coming trial at the same time that Connecticut officials are seeking to strengthen state laws against shellfishing thieves.
A jury trial over an alleged case of clam poaching is set to begin later this month in New Haven Superior Court.
The man state officials are accusing of shellfish piracy is Nicholas Crismale, a veteran Branford fisherman and president of the Lobstermen’s Association of Connecticut. His sixth-degree larceny case is coming trial at the same time that Connecticut officials are seeking to strengthen state laws against shellfishing thieves.
Crismale insists state officials are using the 2011 incident to discredit him because of his criticism of their handling of the lobster crisis in Long Island Sound – an accusation state officials deny.
“Our officers arrested Mr. Crismale only because the circumstances and facts of this situation were very compelling,” said Dennis Schain, spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.