One man caught 62 out-of-season lobsters. Another tried to hide some in his shorts, cops say
Florida spiny lobster season is about two months away, but the draw of the tasty crustaceans was simply too hard to resist for two men who were arrested in separate state fish and wildlife police busts over the weekend in the Keys, according to reports.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were watching one of the men, Rafael Larduet Carrion, as the 43-year-old snorkeled just off shore from Duck Key on Saturday. The eight-month recreational and commercial spiny lobster season doesn’t start until Aug. 6, but FWC investigators say they saw Carrion catching them in addition to separating the tails from the carapace in the water — which is illegal.
All harvested lobsters must be brought to shore whole, per Florida law.
FWC officers stopped Carrion when he got out of the water, and that’s when he pulled six wrung tails from underneath his shorts, said Officer Jason Rafter, spokesman for the FWC in the Keys.
Officers booked Carrion into county jail on possession of undersized and out-of-season lobster charges, charges for wringing the tails in the water and another for not possessing a measuring device — all misdemeanors.
Larduet Carrion, who lives in the Middle Keys city of Marathon, could not be immediately reached for comment.
On Sunday, FWC cops were watching 30-year-old Randy Sanchez Tapia as he was snorkeling near Whale Harbor Channel in Islamorada. Rafter said they stopped him initially because he did not have a required diver down flag.
However, when Tapia returned to shore, they discovered the Miami man had illegally harvested 62 lobsters, and 32 of them were undersized.
Tapia, who could not be reached for comment, also spent the night in Monroe County jail on several misdemeanor conservation charges.
This story was originally published June 13, 2022 at 5:26 PM.
