Four face local fisheries charges
By Jessica Machetta [email protected]
Authorities find ‘elaborate setup' at fishing lodge
According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Bob Dube, agency officers Rama Shuster and John Jacox have issued citations for fisheries violations that could lead to something much bigger.
Dube said officers were making a routine check of four divers at the south end of Bahia Honda around 4:30 p.m. Monday when while they were looking through the divers' vehicle, they noticed a hat from DBA Pets Palace, a store in Louisville, Ky.
“They followed them back to their campsite at the Big Pine Fishing Lodge, where they uncovered an elaborate system for live rock, small corals and tropical fish,” Dube said. “There was over 20 containers or vats with all the tropical fish, Gargonian corals, stone crabs - they had a plethora of marine life in there.”
Dube said the Louisville, Ky., men apparently have been coming to the Keys for more than eight years and initially told officers they are recreational divers, but changed their story once their portable holding facility was discovered.
Edward A. Hockersmith and his brother, Timothy J. Hockersmith, were charged with misdemeanor possession of whole body and egg-bearing stone crab, undersized blue angelfish, undersized French angelfish and live rock, Dube said, as well as “the biggie,” which is commercial harvest with no saltwater product license with intent to sell - considered a major violation.
The names of the other two men involved were not available at press time, but Dube said all four face the possibility of further charges because of the large amount of equipment and marine life they possessed.
FWC officers David Dipre and Matthew Cushing and Special Agent Kenny Blackburn with the National Marine Fisheries Service aided in the investigation.
By Jessica Machetta [email protected]
Authorities find ‘elaborate setup' at fishing lodge
According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Bob Dube, agency officers Rama Shuster and John Jacox have issued citations for fisheries violations that could lead to something much bigger.
Dube said officers were making a routine check of four divers at the south end of Bahia Honda around 4:30 p.m. Monday when while they were looking through the divers' vehicle, they noticed a hat from DBA Pets Palace, a store in Louisville, Ky.
“They followed them back to their campsite at the Big Pine Fishing Lodge, where they uncovered an elaborate system for live rock, small corals and tropical fish,” Dube said. “There was over 20 containers or vats with all the tropical fish, Gargonian corals, stone crabs - they had a plethora of marine life in there.”
Dube said the Louisville, Ky., men apparently have been coming to the Keys for more than eight years and initially told officers they are recreational divers, but changed their story once their portable holding facility was discovered.
Edward A. Hockersmith and his brother, Timothy J. Hockersmith, were charged with misdemeanor possession of whole body and egg-bearing stone crab, undersized blue angelfish, undersized French angelfish and live rock, Dube said, as well as “the biggie,” which is commercial harvest with no saltwater product license with intent to sell - considered a major violation.
The names of the other two men involved were not available at press time, but Dube said all four face the possibility of further charges because of the large amount of equipment and marine life they possessed.
FWC officers David Dipre and Matthew Cushing and Special Agent Kenny Blackburn with the National Marine Fisheries Service aided in the investigation.
