FWC DIVISION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT WEEKLY REPORT September 7-13, 2012

FWC DIVISION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

WEEKLY REPORT

September 7-13, 2012        

 

This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week; however,

it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement.

 

NORTHWEST REGION

 

BAY COUNTY

 

Officer Karl Hellett was conducting marine fisheries inspections on the jetty at St. Andrews State Park when he found a subject to be in possession of six gag grouper. Four of the six grouper were undersized. He issued the subject a notice to appear for possessing over the daily bag limit and undersized gag grouper.

 

Plain-clothes Officer Neal Goss was on vessel patrol in West Bay when he observed a vessel in Botheration Bayou harvesting oysters, an area that is closed to the harvest of oysters. After observing the vessel for a period of time, Officer Goss approached the vessel, which was now working around the Breakfast Point area, and identified himself. Officer Goss observed several oysters on the vessel’s culling board. When asked, the captain could not produce a saltwater products license (SPL) and the occupants knew the area was closed; however, they were just scouting and getting ready for the season to open. They said that they were going to throw them back when they were done scouting. Officer Goss issued the two occupants citations for harvesting oysters in a closed area. Officer Goss issued the captain warnings for not having the SPL onboard, expired vessel registration, and no throwable flotation device. The oysters were returned to the water.

 

HOLMES COUNTY

 

Plain-clothes Officer Warren Walsingham responded to a complaint of night hunting activity in the Bonifay area. The complainant advised he had observed weaving tire tracks and blood in the road from the previous night near his hunting property. Upon arrival, Officer Walsingham began speaking to the complainant about the illegal activity when a neighbor pulled up in his vehicle and began talking to the complainant about the activity as well, not knowing that Officer Walsingham was an FWC officer. During the conversation, Officer Walsingham suspected that the neighbor knew more and identified himself as an officer and further questioned him. The neighbor eventually provided enough information to Officer Walsingham, which led him to the suspect’s location. Officer Walsingham went to the location and as he approached the residence, he noticed blood on the suspect’s truck tailgate. He also noticed the pattern on the tires matched the tire tracks on the road at the scene. Officer Walsingham interviewed the suspect who gave a full confession to killing a deer the night before with a .22 caliber rifle. The doe deer and the .22 caliber rifle were seized and charges were filed for taking deer during closed season.

 

WAKULLA COUNTY

 

Officers Charlie Mallow, Russ Freeman and Travis Hooker worked a detail targeting oyster violations. Several arrests were made for violations, ranging from possession of undersized oysters to harvesting oysters in a conditionally restricted closed area.

 

FRANKLIN COUNTY

 

While on patrol, Officer John Allen noticed a lone oyster vessel harvesting in an approved area during a closure. He contacted Officer Carmon Brownell, and the two officers made contact with the two harvesters on the vessel. During the boarding, the officers found that not only were the harvesters harvesting in closed waters, but that the bags were untagged and not shaded. Three misdemeanor citations were issued and three bags of oysters were seized and returned to the water alive.

 

Officer Percy Cook responded to a vessel in distress at East Pass. The vessel captain phoned 911 to report that his vessel was taking on water and sinking fast. Winds were out of the southwest at 20 knots with seas of four–six feet. As Officer Cook launched his vessel, the captain phoned 911 again and advised his vessel had capsized, and he was now adrift in the water wearing a blue personal floatation device. At this point, all communication was lost with the captain. Officer Cook arrived on scene and began a search grid. He located the vessel captain a short time later and pulled him from the rough seas to the safety of the patrol vessel.

 

-30-

http://www.oysterradio.com e-mail manager@oysterradio.com with comments