Jupiter dive crew convicted of stealing fishing gear

[boulderjohn]

Jupiter dive crew convicted of stealing fishing gear

Jupiter shark diving crew convicted of stealing fishing gear in federal waters

Two Palm Beach County men who offer tourists the opportunity to swim with sharks were convicted Tuesday of stealing fishing gear in federal waters.

www.wptv.com

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

So......in Florida it's legal to longline for Lemon Sharks?

In reading this, I guess that I'm kind-of in a bit of a personal conflict here as to who is more in the wrong.... I hate thieves with a passion......but am also glad that they removed the shark-fishing long-line. I wonder what other "by-catch" animals were killed or tortured by this type of indiscriminate fishing method.

 

[Whitrzac]

Shark fishing isnt illegal yet?

 

[Jake 10]

So......in Florida it's legal to longline for Lemon Sharks?

In reading this, I guess that I'm kind-of in a bit of a personal conflict here as to who is more in the wrong.... I hate thieves with a passion......but am also glad that they removed the shark-fishing long-line. I wonder what other "by-catch" animals were killed or tortured by this type of indiscriminate fishing method.

After reading the article I have the same question. Is legal to catch lemon sharks n Florida? For meat or for dorsal fins like Chinese do?

 

[Eric802]

Hopefully someone with some fishing knowledge will chime in...are the sharks by-catch, or are they targeted? If they're targeted, why? I think finning is illegal here, and I can't imagine there's that much of a market for shark meat.

As to the theft...well, it's pretty stupid to do that with a boat full of paying tourists and their cameras.

 

[runsongas]

Finning is illegal in the US, but commercial longline depends on the species

https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/2022-08/HMS_Commercial_Compliance_Guide_08-02-2022.pdf

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article269689831.html

reading the article on the miami herald, this seems more they are getting the book thrown at them not for taking out the long line, but for the evidence tampering getting rid of the buoy and lines after a FWC official told them to leave everything at the dock.

 

[Vicko]

A couple of years ago a video started getting published with a diver rescuing a number of octopus from a "illegal" fishing pot, everyone liked it and it got a couple hundred thousand views by the time I saw it.
Only you could clearly see that the pot was marked and legal. The dipshit stole 50 dollars from someone by rescuing the catch. The result was that the local fisherman stopped working with other divers and started fishing the spots they usually ignored so the tourists could see something while diving.

You may not like fisherman, apealing to the lawmakers is your way of protesting , not stealing someones property.

 

[greeniguana]

Midwestern tourists on a dive charter boat pulled in 3 miles of (marked) longline for 3 hours??

The world is full of morons.

 

[CT-Rich]

Don’t mess with other peoples gear. Unless it is clearly ghost gear, don’t touch it. If you do get rid of ghost gear. Don’t make social media posts about it.

From the article, the two understood what they were doing was illegal. They omitted relevant data when calling it in. An ex fisherman they would know that the info on the buoy was there to track the fisherman. If they thought the lines were illegally set, that would be the first information they would send.

 

[100days-a-year]

Interfering with fishermen or hunters going about thier business legally doesn't generally end well. And in Florida it is particularly stupid. Hope these guys get some time.
Shark longlining is pretty selective and is used by fisheries managers at NOAA to assess populations.