Outdoors

Anatomy of a fishing prosecution

By TERRY TOMALIN
Published December 11, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - The four-year investigation began when officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission received a tip that recreational anglers aboard the party boat Florida Fisherman II were docking with too many fish, some under the legal size limit, which were sold to a local seafood dealer.

On Nov. 17, after years of legal wrangling, a judge in New York City issued an Initial Decision and Order that resulted in a $105,000 civil penalty for Mastry's Bait & Tackle, the store that sold the fish.

Roy Crabtree, southeast regional director of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency that worked with state officials to bring charges against the tackle shop, a sushi restaurant and 12 sport fishermen, has said the unregulated sale of recreationally caught fish is a widespread problem.

The Mastry's Bait & Tackle case, as it is called by federal officials, offers a rare glimpse into the world of backdoor seafood deals.

The following account is taken from records released last week pursuant to the Federal Freedom of Information Act:

The Florida Fishermen II typically departed John's Pass at 7 p.m., traveled 75 to 125 miles offshore to the Florida Middle Grounds, a popular fishing area, and returned 36 hours later. The company's brochure described it as a two-day camping trip.

One group of regular customers was given special privileges. "This group was allowed to bring their own coolers on board, which was against company policy," the records state. "Toward the end of the voyage, the mates would remove the fish from the coolers on special stringers so attention would not be drawn by other customers or regulators who may witness the fish being unloaded."

Michael Mastry, president of Mastry's Bait & Tackle, told federal officials he paid cash for mangrove snapper, black grouper and amberjack caught aboard the Florida Fisherman II. He said sometimes the fishermen told him before they went on overnight trips, and sometimes they would show up unannounced with their catch. Mastry's paid $1.50 a pound for snapper, $2.50 a pound for grouper and $1 a pound for amberjack.

At the time Mastry's Bait & Tackle held a federal reef-fish dealer's permit. But as the records point out, "Commercial vessels are often offshore for one or two weeks, and by buying fish from charter fishermen, Mastry's Bait & Tackle was able to purchase fish that had been caught in the last two days."

So not only could Mastry's buy fresher fish, it could buy in quantities smaller than 2,000 pounds at a time, the norm when buying from a commercial vessel.

During the investigation, the FWC had undercover officers aboard the vessel. On Dec. 6, 2001, the Florida Fishermen II docked at Hubbard's Marina at John's Pass, and Howard Klausen emerged with four stringers holding 47 snapper. The legal limit was 10.

Agents from NMFS executed a search warrant on Oct. 2, 2002, at Mastry's Bait & Tackle and examined the contents of its safe. They found hand-written records of cash sales that matched those kept by officers.

In determining the penalty, federal officials examined the tackle shop's books and learned the store did "a little over a million dollars in sales year in and year out." About 21 percent of its business involved the sale of federally regulated seafood. The shop prefers selling whole fish so its customers can examine the eyes and gills to determine freshness.

In addition to the fine the shop's federal seafood dealer permit would be suspended for 300 days, a move, the tackle shop's owners argued, that would cause them to lose 40 percent of their business.

"That is a lot of money for a small business to pay," said Bob Spaeth, spokesman for the Southern Offshore Fishing Association, one of the state's leading commercial fishing lobbies. "What are they trying to do? Put them out of business."

Spaeth, unlike many in the commercial fishing industry, said he thinks recreational anglers should be able to sell their catch.

"As long as it doesn't come out of our quotas, why should anyone care?" he said.

[Last modified December 11, 2005, 02:15:36]