Hamilton man charged for allegedly poaching spiny lobster in Florida
· Toronto Sun
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A Hamilton man is facing a number of misdemeanour charges in the United States after being arrested for allegedly poaching spiny lobster in Florida.
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Marko Gacic, 42, was allegedly caught hunting spiny lobster using a speargun in a federally-protected marine sanctuary off Islamorada in the Upper Keys on July 12 by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer, reports the Miami Herald .
He was booked at a Monroe County jail on Plantation Key on two counts each of catching lobster out of season and spearing lobster, and one count each of harvesting an undersized lobster and of harvesting an egg-bearing lobster.
Gacic has since been released on a $3,000 bond and will appear remotely before a judge next week.
Cop allegedly saw man fishing with speargun
According to a police report by arresting officer Aviezer Medina-Garcia, Gacic was allegedly fishing with his speargun while his boat was tied to a mooring ball at the Alligator Reef Sanctuary Preservation Area within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary .
The zones were set up to protect the coral-reef system and marine life, and the mooring balls state there is no fishing, lobstering or anchoring within sanctuary preservation areas.
Medina-Garcia allegedly saw Gacic place a speargun on his boat and approached him and asked him if he had any fish.
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The report said Gacic allegedly handed the officer a plastic bag containing a schoolmaster snapper and two lobster. The lobsters, one undersized and the other an egg-bearing female, had allegedly been speared.
During the season, the part of the lobster that is not the tail must be longer than three inches while egg-bearing females are always off-limits. It’s illegal to harvest lobster in Florida using a speargun.
According to the report, Gacic allegedly told the officer he knew his boat was moored within the sanctuary but he killed the snapper and lobster outside the protected zone and didn’t know lobster regulations.
The two-day spiny-lobster mini-season is July 29 and 30.
The regular recreational and commercial spiny lobster season runs from Aug. 6 through March 31.