An Alabama man who caught a fish big enough to make the newspapers is now facing a single misdemeanor charge after it turned out the big fish was actually a protected species. Billy Daniels of Moody, Alabama along with his son and two fishing buddies from Kansas caught a goliath grouper on June the 25th about 15 miles southeast of St. George Island. The fishermen thought it was a giant Warsaw grouper. The fish was something anyone would be proud of – it was 82 inches long and 66 inches in girth and was estimated to weigh approximately 446 pounds. They brought the grouper back to Bay City Lodge in Apalachicola, posed for photos and dressed the fish on the dock. After the photos and stories ran in numerous newspapers and showed up on Web sites and blogs, the calls started coming in to the FWC from those who thought the fish was a goliath grouper. DNA tests proved it was a Goliath grouper – That is a protected species because of severe overfishing in the 1970s and 1980s. Mister Daniels has agreed to the terms of a “deferred prosecution agreement” with the state attorney’s office in Apalachicola, which stipulates he pay a $150 fine and contribute $150 to Florida’s Wildlife Alert Reward Program. The agreement spells out the misdemeanor charge will be dismissed after 90 days, assuming Daniels is not charged with other fish or wildlife law violations in Florida. Officials said Mister Daniels has been nothing but cooperative during this period. Daniels was cited rather than his son, who actually caught the fish, because as captain he is responsible for the fish being landed.
http://www.oysterradio.com
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