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
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Four officers worked a detail targeting drugs and alcoholic beverage usage on Perdido Wildlife Management Area. The officers focused on the Pipes and Filligim Landing areas where complaints have been received. The afternoon detail netted seven citations issued for possession of alcoholic beverages within the management area.
OKALOOSA COUNTY
Officer Ryan Nelson was notified of a commercial landing involving an Individual Fishing Quota on a Destin commercial fishing vessel. Officer Nelson met the commercial boat at Joe’s Bayou boat ramp. Through conversation with the boat owner/operator, Officer Nelson determined his catch was harvested in state waters. On this day, federal waters were still closed to recreational and commercial fishing. The fisheries inspection revealed 25 harvested/possessed red snapper and a king mackerel. The operator stated he made numerous phone calls to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and FWC to make sure state waters were open to commercial fishing. Officer Nelson agreed that state waters were open, but the commercial bag limit for red snapper is two per person per day. Officer Nelson seized 23 red snapper and obtained a circuit judge’s signature to sell the catch to a local wholesale dealer. The operator was issued a citation for over the bag limit. The funds from the sale of the fish will be held in escrow until the case is resolved.
Officer Pete Rockwell conducted a fisheries inspection on an Alabama recreational boat at Joe’s Bayou boat ramp. The fisheries inspection revealed two red snapper harvested by a spear gun. The owner/operator stated he made phone calls and was told that Florida’s state waters were open for fishing. Officer Rockwell explained that was correct, but the season for red snapper closed July 24. Officer Rockwell cited the operator for possession of red snapper during closed season.
Officers Van Barrow and Sulin Schafer were on water patrol conducting boating safety inspections near the Destin Bridge when they observed a personal watercraft (PWC) in violation of the idle speed/no wake zone. The officers stopped the PWC and noticed no registration decal or numbers displayed. After explaining the violations to the operator, Officer Barrow requested identification, but the individual had no credentials to identify himself. Instead, the operator provided his name. The individual stated he was assisting a local livery in a dolphin cruise aspect. Officer Barrow instructed the individual to return to the livery where he would complete the stop and enforcement actions. As they entered Destin Harbor, the individual bolted toward the livery, docked the PWC on the dry storage, and fled on foot. The name the individual provided was not his, but that of an employee at the livery. Officer Barrow determined the individual’s true name and address. A computer check confirmed the individual had six outstanding warrants from Okaloosa County for violations of probation, fraud, dealing in stolen property, and failing to appear. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office assisted in locating the fleeing man at his residence, arresting him, and transporting him to jail. Officer Barrow met the deputy and the subject at the jail and filed the following additional charges: fleeing and eluding, providing a law enforcement officer with a false name, and violating an idle speed/no wake zone. The man was booked into the Okaloosa County Jail.
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