Florida Fish and Wildlife incidents

The following represents some, not all, of the incidents handled by the FWC Division of Law Enforcement handled Sept. 23 – 29:

Escambia County

n Near Pensacola Pass, Officers John Bell and Faris Livesay worked a joint fisheries and boating safety detail with U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Station Pensacola personnel. One inspection involved a dive boat with four occupants onboard returning from a day of spear fishing. The USCG conducted a safety inspection of the vessel while FWC officers conducted a fisheries inspection. When asked if there were any fish onboard, FWC officers were directed to the front of the vessel where they observed several legal fish. When asked if they had any other fish or fish fillets onboard, the vessel captain answered, "No". The officers checked a cooler located in the back of the vessel and found fresh fillets hidden in two large Ziploc bags. The officers found a weight in each bag of fillets, so if thrown overboard the bags would sink. The officers identified the fillets as being red snapper, red grouper, triggerfish, scamp, and amberjack. In addition, they found whole undersized greater amberjack and tripletail onboard. The officers issued 26 misdemeanor citations to the four subjects for the violations.

For a complete list, see the Oct. 6 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.