Commercial fisherman fined nearly $52K after hidden illegal

[NewsHound]

Commercial fisherman fined nearly $52K after hidden illegal catch discovered

From FloridaToday.com

A commercial fisherman from Palm Beach County was fined more than $50,000 after officers discovered hidden fish during an inspection of his boat at Port Canaveral.

David Sanderson, 44, of West Palm Beach was issued two fines totaling $51,975 regarding three counts of harvesting king mackerel in excess of the commercial limit and two counts of making false statements to law enforcement officers.

The penalties, which were issued in late October after a lengthy investigation, stem from a check of Sanderson’s commercial-fishing vessel, the Stapleton, on Dec. 23, 2009, by officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Information on the inspection was released today.

The officers discovered a hidden compartment that contained more king mackerel, commonly known as kingfish, than is allowed by federal law, the state wildlife agency said in a statement.

“This type of illegal activity has a serious impact on the livelihood of other commercial fishermen, as well as the sustainability of the king mackerel commercial fishery,” one of the inspectors, Agent Mark Fields of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, said in the statement.

Fields documented the harvesting overages on three occasions.

Sanderson has 30 days to request a hearing before a federal judge regarding the violations of the U.S. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Management Act.

From Nov. 1 through March 31, the commercial limit for king mackerel south of the Flagler-Volusia county line and north of the Miami-Dade-Monroe county line is 50 fish per day. After Feb. 1, limits may increase to 75 fish per day if 75 percent of the quota has not been reached.

Seems a little lite for me. The commerical fisherman has been caught 3 times with over the limit fish but still is able to fish for a living. Seems to me the fines just arent working out in this situation.

Pull his liscense and throw his ass in jail so it will be a warning to others that you play by the rules or find another job. This happens all the time in commercial fishing but nothing is ever done. If a rec guy has one snapper too many that is his ass.

All commerical boats should be required to check in with the FWC prior to unloading thier catch.