MILTON — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission filed these cases between June 16 and 22 in Santa Rosa County:
- Officer Ramos was on vessel patrol in the Santa Rosa Sound and conducted a boating safety and resource inspection on a vessel he saw returning from offshore fishing.
The officer discovered that the individuals had harvested regulated fish species that included six red snapper, three of which appeared to be under the legal 16‑inch size limit.
Ramos asked the boat operator how they measured their fish. The operator showed the officer a homemade ruler he constructed using tape.
Ramos showed the individual that his homemade tape ruler was an inch short compared to a certified metal ruler. The three, undersized snapper measured 15 inches each.
The operator was cited accordingly.
- Officer Ramos received information from a resident that an individual on a boat was harvesting oysters in a closed area in Blackwater Bay.
After gathering details from the complainant, Ramos saw the individual in an area closed for the harvesting of oysters.
A boating safety and resource inspection was conducted and the individual admitted he was intentionally smashing oysters and their attached mollusks to attract fish that he could catch with fishing poles.
The man received one boating safety warning and was charged for harvesting oysters in a prohibited area.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Illegal oyster harvesting among FWC incidents