Shellfish poachers were cited over the July 4 holiday with credit due to the observations of tour boat captains and the efforts of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers.
Capt. Joey Sweet, owner and operator of Sweet Sunsets and Dolphin Tours, operating tours in Sarasota Bay, told The Islander July 5 that area captains worked with the FWC to stop illegal harvesting of shell life and other marine organisms in the sandbars and shallow waters of Sarasota Bay.
“I and other charter captains had been noticing that sea life was disappearing from our sandbars,” Sweet said. “We do a lot of educational stuff. So when we start seeing things missing, it’s obvious that something is going on.”
Sweet said one group was seen over a period of months taking more sea life and shellfish than allowed by state law.
In Manatee County, people cannot harvest or possess more than two live shells, including echinoderms such as sand dollars and starfish, containing live organisms of any single species except for oysters, hard clams, sunray venus clams and coquinas per day, according to FWC regulations.
Other shellfish, such as crabs, are subject to seasonal regulation, while whelks and conchs have protected status. It is not, however, unlawful to collect their shells, as long as the shell does not contain a living organism.
Sweet said the situation with the collectors came to a head July 1, when Capt. Katie Tupin of Cortez-based Scarlett Boat Tours saw a group with nets and pockets full of sea life.
Tupin called the FWC and made a report and the FWC officers were on the water in proximity of the incident to catch the poachers in the act, according to Sweet.
Tupin posted to Facebook July 4: “Illegally harvesting 250 plus sea urchins and hundreds of live conchs/whelks etc. … is despicable. Stop coming out here and wiping the bay clean.”
Ashlee Sklute, a public information coordinator for the FWC, shared a news release July 5 stating the agency acted after receiving several reports of individuals illegally harvesting marine life near Longboat Pass.
FWC officers inspected multiple vessels throughout Sarasota Bay, according to the release.
“In total, six individuals were issued 18 criminal citations and multiple warnings for resource violations,” the release stated. “The violations included the harvest of more than two live shellfish per species per day in Manatee County, the harvest of more than 20 individuals per day of tropical marine life species, 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.”
The FWC also said 10 species and more than 200 live specimens were returned alive to area waters as a result of the inspections.
For more information on species bag limits, go online to myfwc.com
To report a violation, call the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC.