PALM COAST, Fla. -- A Palm Coast man has been cited by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for numerous saltwater fishing violations.
FWC Officer Ben Boots was patrolling offshore of Palm Coast when he spotted a boat being operated by 45-year-old Thuy Nguyen of Palm Coast.
As Officer Boots approached the 22-foot-Seabird to conduct a boating safety and fisheries inspection, he observed Nguyen throwing fish overboard, approximately 16 miles east of the Matanzas Inlet.
Boots used a net to remove the fish Nguyen had thrown into the water. The discarded fish were five red snapper, one gag grouper, one black sea bass and one vermilion snapper, according to the FWC.
Boots placed the discarded fish onto the FWC boat and then inspected Nguyen's boat where he found 18 red snapper, four gag grouper, three vermilion snapper and two black sea bass. It is illegal to possess all of those fish, according to the FWC.
When the other six people aboard couldn't remember who caught which fish, Nguyen told Officer Boots he was the captain and owner of the boat and that he would take responsibility for the illegal fish.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of General Counsel - Enforcement Section will handle the prosecution of Nguyen.
As part of a joint enforcement agreement with NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement FWC officers are cross-deputized to enforce federal fish and wildlife laws in addition to Florida laws.
First Coast News