Two fish stores, a restaurant and a dozen recreational anglers are cited in a crackdown on illegal sales. Mastry's Bait and Tackle faces a $105,000 fine.
By ADRIENNE LU and AMY WIMMER
Published May 21, 2003
Mike Mastry, who has been in the fish business for 30 years, says he thought nothing of it when some recreational fishermen showed up at his St. Petersburg store to sell fish.
Now, if authorities have their way, he will pay for his mistake.
A crackdown by federal and state authorities has led to $171,000 in fines against 12 fishermen, a Tampa sushi restaurant and two Pinellas seafood stores, including Mastry's Bait and Tackle on Fourth Street S.
The investigation examined businesses suspected of buying fish from recreational fishermen, who are barred from selling their catch.
The fishermen who were fined caught the fish off the Florida Fisherman II, a party boat run from Hubbard's Marina in John's Pass. Hubbard's officials, who were not cited, said they try to enforce daily limits on recreational fishermen but have no control over what people do with their catch once they step off the boat.
"There's so much fish brought in under the cover of darkness, you wouldn't believe it," said Bob Jones, executive director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association, which represents commercial fishermen, wholesalers and processors. "This was a very serious message that the law enforcement is sending."
Mastry, who was fined $105,000 and ordered not to buy or sell certain fish for 300 days, said he plans to appeal.
"If I'd been aware of those kinds of laws," he said, "I certainly would have been a lot more careful."
Commercial fishermen, who have long maintained that recreational fishermen are not held to the same high standards, said the crackdown was long overdue.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg," said Bob Spaeth, executive director of the Southern Offshore Fishing Association, another industry group. "There's a whole economy of illegal sales of fish going on."
Industry experts say recreational fishermen who sell their catch to wholesale seafood houses hurt commercial fishermen not only by selling the fish at a cheaper price, but also by skewing quotas. They believe as much as 10 percent of the fish attributed to commercial fishermen are actually caught by recreational anglers.
The investigation was a joint effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Fisheries Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The two agencies were acting on a tip that recreational fishermen on a Hubbard's Marina party boat were selling their catch, which included grouper, snapper and amberjack.
Besides Mastry's, Nachman's Native Seafood of Redington Shores was fined $5,000 and barred from buying or selling certain fish for 30 days. Matoi Sushi, the Tampa restaurant, was fined $7,500. NOAA did not release the names of the 12 fishermen.
NOAA spokesman Mark Oswell said Tuesday he could not provide details of how the investigation was conducted or over what period the violations occurred.
Representatives from Mastry's and Nachman's said the citations were based on incidents that occurred within the past two or three years. The owner of Matoi Sushi, located on Dale Mabry Highway, could not be reached for comment.
Mark Hubbard, whose family owns Hubbard's Marina and the boat that was involved, said his crews enforce the daily limits for recreational fisherman.
The boat, the Florida Fisherman II, takes anglers out for half-day to two-day excursions, as far as 100 miles into the gulf.
"We have it in our literature, we do announcements when people get on the boats and we enforce the bag limit laws on the boat. What they do with their fish is their right," said Hubbard.
Tim Nachman said he was penalized for buying fish from a man who he thought was still a commercial fisherman but apparently no longer had a commercial license. Nachman said he bought less than 150 pounds of fish.
"I'm going to be more careful and do a little more homework," Nachman said, "but that's basically the story there."
- Times staff writer Brady Dennis and researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.
