Years of documenting suspected illegal shellfish harvesting by a coalition of tour boat captains operating in Sarasota Bay helped the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission cite suspected marine-life poachers July 28 following an investigation near the South Coquina Beach boat ramp.
The citation was the result of work by the Habitat Guardian Group, an informal coalition of tour boat captains and volunteers formed in 2023 after members spent more than a year documenting suspected illegal shellfish and marine species harvesting.
The group was founded by Capt. Joey Sweet of Sweet Sunsets and Dolphin Tours, Capt. Katie Tupin of Captain Katie Scarlett Boat Tours, Capt. Bruce Adamo of Passage Key Dolphin Tours, and Matt and Beth Wright of Island Time Boat Tours.
Sweet has described the organization as a “neighborhood watch for the water,” documenting suspected violations and relaying information to the FWC.
Tupin said July 29 that the day before she recognized two suspected poachers from previous encounters and called the FWC after watching them repeatedly carry shellfish from the water in their shirts, deposit them in buckets beside their parked vehicle at the South Coquina Beach boat ramp in Bradenton Beach and return to collect more.
According to Tupin, an FWC officer was only a few minutes away when she called. Knowing officers were on the way, she asked her husband, Jeff Smith, who was onshore, to follow the suspects’ vehicle after it left the boat ramp while she remained on the water and directed the responding officer to its location.
Smith continued following the vehicle until the officer made contact. Tupin said the encounter resulted in at least one citation.
“I’ve seen these two men at the South Coquina Boat Ramp many, many times before,” Tupin said. “It’s nice that something finally happened.”
The Islander submitted a public records request July 29 seeking the citation and investigative records associated with the July 28 incident. Those records were not provided as of Islander presstime Aug. 3.
HGG’s documentation helped support multiple FWC shellfish-poaching investigations in 2023 before activity slowed following hurricanes Helene and Milton. As recreational boating returned this year, members said they began seeing many of the same people and fresh evidence of suspected illegal harvesting.
“We’ve been reporting this activity and documenting it since we first started noticing it in 2022,” Sweet said July 28. “Here we are now in 2026. It’s the same boats. It’s the same people, and they’re back at it again.”
Members say they continue to find piles of discarded remains of marine invertebrates and have observed fewer horse conchs, lightning whelks, sea urchins and other marine life in areas they regularly take their charters.
For HGG members, the July 28 citation was notable because many previous reports through the spring and early summer ended without enforcement. Tupin said members have spent hours documenting suspected harvesting and repeatedly calling the FWC, only to see the suspected harvesters leave, often with hundreds of harvested animals, before an officer arrived.
Sweet, a former U.S. Coast Guardsman, said he understands the plight of marine law enforcement officers. He said the group does not fault FWC officers, who patrol vast stretches of coastline with limited resources.
“I don’t think we’re asking FWC officers to do something that’s impossible,” Sweet said. “We’re looking at asking our state and our local leaders to make sure that they have enough people and equipment to do the job before our bay gets emptied out, one cooler at a time.”
He said the July 28 response demonstrated what can happen when officers are available to reach the scene before suspected harvesters leave.
Sweet said he would also like state officials to explore training county marine patrol deputies to assist FWC with fisheries enforcement.
“The question is whether or not Florida can give selected marine deputies the additional fisheries training, protocols and legal tools necessary to serve as that force multiplier for FWC,” Sweet said.
In the meantime, HGG members like Tupin said they intend to continue documenting suspected violations and hope more recreational boaters will help by reporting suspicious activity.
“We definitely need more people, even recreational boaters, to keep an eye out,” Tupin said.