AUGUSTA — The commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources announced Tuesday the agency has suspended the lobster licenses of two men for removing the eggs from female lobsters. The violation is a Class D crime that, in addition to license suspension, is punishable by up to a year in jail and fines in excess of $1,000.

The lobster fishing licenses of Philip Poland, 42, of Cushing and Dexter Bray Jr., 36, of Stonington have been suspended for six years as a result of separate investigations conducted earlier this year by Maine Marine Patrol, according to a media release.

The Poland investigation, led by Marine Patrol Officer Brandon Bezio, resulted in charges of removing eggs from three female lobsters in his possession. Poland faces up to a year in prison and fines up to $1,900 in addition to his license suspension.

The investigation of Poland began with an anonymous complaint received during the summer. Bezio followed up on the complaint and, with the help of Marine Patrol Specialist Officer Matthew Wyman, and Specialist Corrie Robert, it was determined that Poland had scrubbed the eggs from three lobsters in his possession.

"Scrubbing" lobsters is the act of artificially removing eggs from the underside of a female lobster's tail.

The Bray investigation, led by Marine Patrol Officer Rustin Ames, resulted in charges of removing the eggs of two female lobsters for which Bray is facing fines of up to $1,600 in addition to as much as a year in prison and the license suspension.

This crime also came to light due to an anonymous complaint, received in the spring by Ames.

Ames followed up on the complaint and began an investigation that involved Marine Patrol Specialist Sean Dow. The investigation revealed that Bray had landed and attempted to sell two egg-bearing female lobsters at a lobster co-op in Stonington.

"Scrubbing lobsters is one of the most serious violations of Marine Resource laws we see," said Marine Patrol Col. Jon Cornish. "Some females can carry 100,000 eggs. By removing eggs to make a short-term monetary gain, criminals deny future generations of fishermen the opportunity those eggs represent. Just as important, they undermine the work law abiding harvesters do every day to sustain this important resource."

"I'm extremely proud of the thorough investigation conducted by the officers involved in these cases," said DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher. "These are very difficult cases to make and the officers did an outstanding job bring this behavior to an end."

Bray, who fished in lobster Management Zone C, was notified in August that his license would be permanently revoked. After a Length of Suspension hearing on Nov. 2, with Keliher, Bray’s suspension was reduced to six years, allowing him to regain his license on May 19, 2022.

Poland, who fished in Zone D, was also notified in August that his license would be permanently revoked. His hearing was held Nov. 15, and his suspension was also reduced to six years. Poland will be allowed to regain his license on July 8, 2022.