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FWC Law Enforcement Report: Illegal Fish, Hunting Violations

The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following recent activity:

ESCAMBIA COUNTY

Officer Allgood received a trespassing complaint from a landowner. Officer Allgood met with the landowner to take the report. While speaking to the landowner, a golf cart drove up with a subject fitting the description of the trespasser. After a short interview, Officer Allgood was able to determine the individual was trespassing and setting steel traps on the landowner’s property. Officer Allgood also determined the trespasser and his father
had each harvested a deer this year and neither deer was logged within the 24-hour time frame to obtain a confirmation number. The appropriate citations were issued for failure to obtain confirmation numbers for harvested deer, setting steel traps without a permit, and trespassing on private property.

Officers responded to a hunting incident that occurred in McDavid. An individual was hog hunting on private property when he set his gun down against a tree. The gun fell over and discharged. The projectile struck the hunter in the nose and continued through his hat. He was able to walk to a nearby relative’s house and an ambulance was called. K-9 Officer Hutchison searched the area and was able to find the scene of the incident. FWC investigators documented the scene and collected evidence. Investigator Livesay will be completing the investigation.

Over a three-week period, Officer Allgood assisted Alabama Marine Resources regarding commercial fisherman in Alabama who were bringing fish from Alabama to Florida and illegally selling them directly to local seafood dealers. Officer Allgood received a call from Alabama Marine Resources informing him that a vessel was checked at a boat ramp in Alabama with approximately 1,000 pounds of commercially harvested mullet. After the inspection, the officer followed the fisherman to the Florida state line where Officer Allgood and Officer Manning were waiting. FWC officers followed the fisherman to his residence. The following morning, Officer Allgood and a NOAA officer followed the fisherman to a local seafood dealer and conducted an inspection. During the inspection, Officer Allgood located several freshwater game fish along with approximately 1,000 pounds of mullet he was attempting to sell. After a short investigation and interview, the fisherman admitted to harvesting the fish in Alabama and said he knew it was illegal to bring them to Florida and sell. While conducting his investigation, another commercial fisherman who was being investigated showed up to the business with approximately 500 pounds of mullet. After a short interview, he also admitted to catching the fish in Alabama and selling them in Florida. Both commercial fishermen returned to Alabama with their fish and Alabama Marine Resources issued the appropriate citations.

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

Officer Lewis was on patrol when he passed by a game meat processor and observed a subject standing next to a truck with a large cooler in the bed of the truck. Officer Lewis spoke with the subject and asked him if he was dropping off a deer. The subject said he was and when asked what kind of deer the subject killed, he stated it was a small baby buck. Officer Lewis observed a quartered deer in the cooler. The cooler was not properly tagged with the required harvester information, there was no sex identification available for the deer, and the subject did not report the deer into the FWC Deer Harvest Reporting System. The subject subsequently Admitted that the deer was a doe he killed three days ago and showed Officer Lewis a photograph of it. Officer Lewis observed a corn pile next to the deer in the photo and ascertained that the subject’s feeding station was not maintained for six months prior to killing the deer over it, which Is prohibited. Officer Lewis issued the subject a Notice to Appear and was cited accordingly. The deer was seized.

Officers Jeter and Land were on patrol in Blackwater River Wildlife Management Area (WMA) when they encountered a hunter exiting the woods. The hunter was parked on a closed road, and he was using a centerfire rifle during the archery/muzzleloading gun season. The hunter gave consent for the officers to look inside his vehicle and drug paraphernalia was located inside. The individual was cited for the violations. Officers Jeter and Land were patrolling the Blackwater River to conduct fisheries inspections. They observed a vessel with fishing poles displayed and conducted a stop to inspect the fisherman’s catch. Upon conducting a fisheries inspection, the officers
located a spotted sea trout which is illegal to take during the month of February in the western panhandle. The individual was cited for the violation.