Four Arrested For Breaking Fishing Laws

Clockwise, from top left: Adnier Lobaina Lopez, David Vasqueza Costa, Jorge L. Escalona, Jose Escalona.Â


On Saturday night shortly before sunset, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer pulled up to David Vazquez Acosta’s boat in Gordon Pass and asked to take a look around.

Vazquez Acosta said sure, and inside the boat the officer said he found a hidden compartment containing several Goliath grouper — a protected species in Florida.

Three others were arrested on a separate boat off Marco Island just a few hours later in what spokesman Officer Jorge Pino said was a more than yearlong FWC poaching investigation.

“These individuals knew exactly what they were doing. They built their vessels specifically to hide fish, and we knew that,” Pino said. “The level of disregard for Florida’s natural resources and the fact that these individuals just chose to violate the law, blatantly, is astonishing to even the most senior investigator that we had on the case.”

The investigation targeted Vazquez Acosta and the owner of the second boat, 43-year-old Jorge L. Escalona. The FWC had received tips about illegal activity, all of which Pino said was confirmed by the arrests Saturday.

The operation was so successful that the two men were able to quit their jobs as construction workers and focus on poaching full time, Pino said.

On the two boats, FWC officers said they discovered goliath grouper, red grouper, yellowtail snapper and African pompano, all of which were illegal to possess or undersized. A sea turtle also was found chopped up on the second boat. Pino said it’s believed the men were selling the fish, although it’s not clear to whom.

Vazquez Acosta, 43, faces 23 misdemeanor counts related to possession of both prohibited and undersized fish.

The three men on the other boat — Escalona, 37-year-old Adnier Lobaina Lopez and 45-year-old Jose Escalona Ferral — each face 225 misdemeanor counts, plus one felony count of taking/mutilating a marine turtle.

Pino said a specially trained canine officer was used to sniff out the protected fish on-board both vessels. The boats had been equipped with several hidden compartments meant to hide their illegal catch, he said.

“For the average person that boards the vessel, you couldn’t even tell,” Pino said. “For the average FWC officer that does these traffic stops on a regular basis and resource inspections, they could have probably missed it themselves.”

Fish like Goliath grouper are protected because biologists have determined that there are not enough of them, Pino said.

“I want my son and my daughter to be able to enjoy a grouper sandwich years down the road. I want my grand kids to be able to enjoy a grouper sandwich down the road,” he said. “If the FWC doesn’t do what we do today to protect these resources, there may not be that opportunity for future generations.”

 

Well I hope these four are the new bait for the Collier County Jail inmates! They will all have new fishing partners named Big Bubba!

 

FWC seized two boats in the process, boats they say were built with secret compartments.”Built their vessels specifically to hide fish. We knew that,” said Pino.

 

Sad, but True!