A tip enables agencies to target fishermen, stores and a sushi restaurant.
By ADRIENNE LU
Published May 22, 2003
MADEIRA BEACH - They looked like tourists videotaping boats coming in and out of Hubbard's Marina at John's Pass. But they were less interested in the boats than the fishermen on board.
For nearly a year, state and federal officers posed as tourists to gather evidence against a group of recreational fisherman who authorities say illegally sold their catch.
Acting on a tip, agents staked out the Florida Fisherman II, a party boat out of Madeira Beach, said Andrew Emerson, special agent with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service.
Emerson said his agency and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission used the videotapes to establish the identities of regular customers aboard the party boat on its overnight trips to the Gulf of Mexico. Then, they used hidden cameras to catch the fishermen driving to and entering local businesses.
"They would load their ice chests in the back of their vehicles and pretty much drive straight to Mastry's," Emerson said, referring to Mastry's Bait and Tackle on Fourth Street S in St. Petersburg, which was hit with a civil penalty of $105,000 and a sanction prohibiting it from buying certain kinds of fish for 300 days as a result of the investigation.
Emerson said many of the fishermen knew each other and some helped each other unload the fish.
All told, Mastry's, a Redington Shores wholesaler, a Tampa sushi restaurant and 12 recreational fishermen were issued fines totaling $171,000 for selling and buying the fish. Emerson said it was the largest case involving the sale of recreational fish he had heard of in his five years as an agent.
Federal law prohibits recreational fishermen from selling reef fish, including grouper, snapper, amberjack and tilefish; state law prohibits the sale of fish caught with a recreational license.
The fines are significant because the violation is very serious, said Henry Cabbage, media relations director for the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Rules against selling recreationally caught fish help manage the fish resources, "to keep them from being overfished," Cabbage said. "It's also to protect the livelihood of the commercial fishermen."
Emerson said cracking down on the sale of recreational fish has become a priority in recent years because commercial fishermen have complained their business has been hurt.
Emerson gave the following account of the investigation:
After the surveillance, on Oct. 3, 2002, the officers issued administrative search warrants on Mastry's and Matoi Sushi, on N Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa.
At Matoi Sushi, authorities found copies of checks made out to one of the fishermen. At Mastry's, Jack Helinger, an attorney for the business, agreed that Michael Dale Mastry would provide a written statement about what happened. In the statement, Mastry admitted that he bought the fish from the recreational fishermen.
In an interview with Emerson, Mastry said that although he was paying the recreational fishermen what he would pay commercial fishermen for the same fish, the catch from the recreational fishermen was fresher, and he could buy it in smaller quantities.
Wednesday, Mastry declined to comment.
"I'm just a family-owned business. I'm just trying to survive," said Mastry. He said he will appeal the civil penalties and sanction, which would go into effect either 30 days days after being received or, in the case of an appeal, at a date determined by an administrative law judge.
Matoi Sushi received a $7,500 fine and Nachman's Native Seafood of Redington Shores was fined $5,000 and sanctioned for 30 days. The 12 fishermen each received from one to seven counts of unlawfully selling reef fish harvested from federal waters.
When Emerson interviewed the fishermen, he said, "Most of them knew that it was wrong but didn't think it was that big a deal. Most of them loved to fish and would sell some of their catch to offset some of the expense of the charter trip."
The three fishermen issued the highest civil penalties were Phillip Dean Putnam, seven counts, fined $10,500; Richard R. Batchelor, six counts, fined $9,000; and Suk H. Chon, five counts, fined $7,500.
The other fishermen charged were Robert Michael Felice, Terry Warren Heath, Christopher M. Kendall, James Gordon Lindley, Rhonda Leah Phillips, Frank Sextro, Adam Valdes, Richard Sheldon Libby and Howard E. Klausen.
- Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.
