WWLP • June 9, 2021
Penalties for illegal hunting would increase and Massachusetts would join a national compact to track poachers under legislation that advocates say would bring state hunting laws into the modern era and protect endangered animals. The bill would enter Massachusetts into the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, a network that seeks to reduce wildlife poaching through information sharing across state lines and reciprocal recognition of license suspensions and revocations for fishing, hunting, and trapping. Stephanie Harris, of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, said Maine’s compact administrator has received phone calls from people out-of-state asking whether Maine is a member. “It is only a matter of time before folks calling Maine call Massachusetts and learn that we’re a non-member and essentially open to business for poachers,” Harris said.