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YouTube Fish Video May Lead to Charges

Crowd cheers as man pulls endangered fish to shore

By Emily Rauhala, Newser User

Posted Feb 2, 2010 9:18 AM CST

(Newser) – A man may face charges for failing to help a black sea bass at Newport Beach, Calif. On Jan. 3, the fisherman accidentally caught the bass, which is a protected species. As boaters motored it ashore, he swam out, loosened the line and pulled the fish out of the water to help it—or so officials believed. But after videos of the incident—complete with cheering crowd—surfaced, officials decided to reexamine the case "to determine what, if any, crime occurred," a rep for a district attorney told the LA Times.

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A giant bass is pulled ashore at Newport Beach. Did the crowd do enough to help it? (YouTube)

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A large fish caught at Newport Beach, California. (JoshuaJonesCS)

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 23 comments

bewilderbeast

Feb 17, 2010 10:38 AM CST

I dunno about this case, but it has always struck me how killing ANY animal gets the killer a cheering crowd. It's weird, but drape a dead moose over your bonnet, flash a dead fish overhead, hold up a dead bird and people will cheer you like you're some kinda hero. Never mind a snake or something considered "evil" (shark, lion, tiger). Weird. Let's just stop unnecessary killing, OK? Let's try and understand our fellow creatures. (hey, gotta try).

riffran

Feb 4, 2010 3:37 AM CST

so did they grill it or bake it?

fancygapva

Feb 4, 2010 1:04 AM CST

um, I mean @DLY, do you hate America?

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Crime & Courts • Green • Technology • US

endangered species • California • animal cruelty • fish • fishing • Newport Beach, Calif.

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YouTube Fish Video May Lead to Charges