Lakeland Ledger
Federal Charges Are Possible in Seizure


Published: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 7:29 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 7:29 p.m.
The four anglers caught with 1,264 shellcracker at Lake Kissimmee two weeks ago are back at home in South Carolina. But they will have to return to Bartow to face charges in court.

They face penalties of up to $500 and 60 days in jail if convicted of possession-limit violations, second-degree misdemeanors.

It will be up to a judge to determine the outcome of the charges brought by Jim Adams, a veteran officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Lakeland.

But the anglers could run into federal charges in what is being called the largest seizure of freshwater fish ever in Polk County, and one of the most serious infractions in the state, although that hasn't been determined.

"It's possible that they may face Lacey Act violations," said Gary Morse, a FWC spokesman in Lakeland.

The Lacey Act deals with the commercialization of wildlife, Morse said.

The group - two brothers and a man and wife - was preparing to depart Grape Hammock Fish Camp on the lake's south end, where they rented a cabin and fished for three days, to go back home when officer Adams arrived after receiving an anonymous tip from the FWC's Wildlife Alert Hotline.

They were likely turned in by an angler who values our fish and game resources.

"They were about to leave," Morse said. "If they had loaded up and got in their truck, he would have seized the truck and the boat and everything else."

Adams found eight large coolers by their cabin that were loaded with whole shellcracker, all caught on hook-and-line, Morse said.

To get an idea how many shellcracker they had, estimate that each fish measured 10 inches. The 1,250-plus shellcracker would have stretched over 3 1/2 football fields if placed end-to-end.

"It took us 3 1/2 hours to lay out those fish and count them accurately," Morse said.

By weight, the entire catch likely exceeded half a ton.

"These weren't small shellcracker," Morse said. "Most of them were 10 or 11 inches, with some 12s and 13s in there."

One has to wonder what you're going to do with that many shellcracker, a cumulative 864 over the possession limit for the four.

If you and three friends were to visit South Carolina and catch 1,200 bluegill, perhaps the question would have come up as to what the limits were.

"They claimed they didn't know what the limits were, yet they had been doing this for a number of years," Morse said. "So you would think they would realize there were limits on these fish."

Catching wildlife violators is largely dependent on tips from the public.

"We've had reports throughout the years that this is happening, but this is the first time we've had an on-spot tip where we were able to confront and confirm that it had been happening," Morse said.

"Fortunately, there are enough ethical anglers out there who will report these things, so we have at least an opportunity to go to these places to find out if it warrants an investigation," Morse added. "In this case, it turned out to be a big one."

The regulars around Grape Hammock certainly frowned on what happened.

"Most of them thought it was good that they got caught. And they figured it would put the word out to anybody else who tried," said a shopkeeper at the camp who didn't want to be identified. "A lot of them said if they could find out who turned them in, they'd buy them a drink."