From the Miami Herald: 2 men found with 332 illegal lobsters
Homestead resident Ernesto Rua and Marathon resident Raudel Rubio
got carried away on an early-morning lobster hunt last weekend —
exceeding their legal limit of 12 total tails (six per person) by 320,
authorities say.
Turns out that 304 of the spiny lobster tails
were also under the legal size limit, which according to the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is the three-inch carapace
when measured in the water.
The two men were arrested Sunday after
bringing the lobster ashore near mile marker 54 and being searched by
Monroe County Sheriff's Office Deputy Wilfredo Guerra.
They were each charged with possession of 332 wrung lobster tails
(tails can't be wrung on the water) and possession of 304 undersized
lobster tails.
According to Guerra's report, he saw Rua, 41, and
Rubio, 26, coming ashore near the former Quay restaurant property around
4:10 a.m. Sunday. Their vessel had no lights on.
The report says
once docked, Guerra saw Rua and Rubio carrying a gray plastic container
toward a black SUV in the parking lot. Guerra approached the two men and
asked to inspect the container.
The report says both men admitted to possessing all the tails; they were arrested. Rua and Rubio were jailed on $150,000 bond.
The
lobster tails were turned over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission to be kept in the agency's evidence facility.
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