LONGBOAT KEY – The vigilance of three local charter captains has resulted in multiple citations against three men for the alleged poaching of marine life in local waters.
Capt. Joey Sweet, of Sweet Sunset Dolphin Tours, Capt. Katie Scarlett Tupin, of Capt. Katie Scarlett Boat Tours, and Capt. Kathe Fannon, of Capt. Kathe and First-Mate Pup-Pup Charters, had long noticed a depletion of marine life at local sandbars and suspected that poachers were to blame. They reported their suspicions to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), resulting in several citations.
According to FWC incident reports, Linh Ha, 51, of 3401 24th St. W., Bradenton, Loc Nguyen, 55, of 3230 44th Drive E., Bradenton, and Hai Nguyen, 51, of Rockford, Ill., were charged by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers on July 1 at Jewfish Key.
“The three individuals were identified to FWC officers by a vessel passing by stating they were keeping over the bag limit of shellfish,” according to the FWC report. “Upon performing a resource inspection, we found all three suspects to be over the allowable bag limit for marine life species (20 max per person/day) as well as over the bag limit for each species (2 per species/per person per day.) The subjects were in possession of 25 tulip snail, 24 crown conch, 9 fighting conch, 2 lightning whelk and 2 horse conch.”
Each man was charged with violation of the Florida Administrative Code Pertaining to Southwest Florida Shells-Harvest of Live Shellfish in Manatee County; Permitted Harvest of Shells which states: “A person may not harvest in Manatee County more than two live shellfish of any single species per day or possess in or on the Florida waters within Manatee County that are seaward of the mean high water line more than two live shellfish of any single species.”
They were also charged with Violation of Florida Administrative Code Pertaining to Marine Life-Recreational Bag Limit which states: “A person may not harvest in Manatee County more than two live shellfish of any single species per day.”
The FWC report states that at approximately 5:30 p.m. on July 1, officers were patrolling the area of Jewfish Key and received a report of three men taking excessive marine life from the north end of the sandbar.
“We observed three subjects matching the complainant’s description near a red and white personal watercraft (PWC) wading along the Jewfish Key sandbar,” according to the report. “The subjects had several hand-nets full of various species of marine life and additional marine life in the footwell of the PWC.”
Hai Nguyen was also found to have no saltwater fishing license and was issued a warning.
Since the other two men were licensed, four of the tulip snails, crown conch and fighting conch were returned to Loc Nguyen and Ha. Two lightning whelk and one horse conch were returned to Loc Nguyen, as they fell within bag limits. The remainder of the organisms were returned to state waters alive, according to the FWC.
The three men are required to appear in Manatee County Court on Wednesday, Aug. 2 at 9 a.m.
According to an FWC press release, officers have received multiple reports since summer began of individuals harvesting marine organisms near Longboat Pass in the Jewfish Key area of Manatee County.
“Over the course of the Independence Day weekend, FWC officers increased patrols in the area and performed resource inspections on multiple vessels,” the press release states. “The violations included the harvest of more than two live shellfish species per day, harvest of more than 20 individual tropical marine life species per day, the possession of undersized stone crab, the possession of egg-bearing stone crab, the possession of whole-condition stone crab, the possession of stone crab during closed season, and fishing without a valid saltwater fishing license.”
“I feel like we are just scratching the surface,” Sweet said. “We’re still seeing a lot of the same activity. Hopefully, people will take notice. I was told by the FWC that if anyone sees something, they should take down the numbers on the boats and report it.”
Call the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (888-404-3922).
