‘F-Dub is going to be after us.’ Two arrested in Florida Keys octopus and shark assault
A second Florida Keys commercial fisherman has been arrested after police say a shark and octopus were battered and killed.
State fish and wildlife police pursued the case after animal rights activists released a video of a shark being beaten to death and an octopus being ripped apart while alive — both acts happening aboard a stone-crabbing boat late last year.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigators say the video, shot on a Nov. 19 stone-crabbing trip by a woman who gave it to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, shows Michael William Bossert, 52, slamming a small nurse shark against the gunwale of the fishing boat on which he worked.
Bossert turned himself in to authorities in his Florida hometown of Bonifay, in Holmes County, late last month, but his arrest warrant became available this week. His shipmate aboard the vessel Booga Man, Charles Mora, 30, was arrested June 1.
Mora is accused of killing the octopus. Both creatures were killed as bycatch as Bossert, Mora and the rest of the Booga Man crew were pulling stone crab traps. Both men, who face a third-degree felony animal cruelty charge each, are represented by Keys defense attorney Hal Schuhmacher, who declined to comment on his clients’ cases.
Bossert’s scheduled first court appearance was not immediately known. Mora is scheduled to appear before a Monroe County Circuit Court judge June 20.
The video was taken by a woman who asked the Booga Man crew if she could go out to sea with them on their stone-crabbing trip, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife investigator Christopher Mattson’s April 15 probable cause affidavit. The woman told the crew she was interested in commercial fishing and wanted to learn more about the industry, Mattson said.
WARNING: Explicit video
The woman, Kerin Rosen, was at one time a PETA “investigator” who previously used hidden cameras to expose the use of electroshock devices on horses at a Kentucky stable, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.
According to Mattson’s FWC report, Bosset is seen taking the small nurse shark out of a trap, slamming it twice against the gunwale and then taking a knife out and cutting the animal into small pieces that were thrown back into the trap to be used for bait.
“An unidentified male voice can be heard in the background of the video saying, ‘Let’s probably not get that on video,’” Mattson wrote in his report.
Another person is heard saying “F-Dub is going to be after us,” the report states. Mattson said that was a reference to FWC.
Mora is accused of grabbing the octopus while using “a violent ripping motion and removed the head and guts.” He then threw the octopus into a “dark colored bin,” according to the report. The octopus was still alive and moving in the bin “with its guts and head removed,” Mattson said. The octopus eventually died.
The Booga Man supplies Keys Fisheries, the state’s largest seller of stone crabs, which is where the iconic Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach gets its claws.
Stephen Sawitz, owner of Joe’s and whose grandfather started the landmark South Beach in 1913, released a statement following Mora’s arrest supporting his prosecution and that of anyone else involved.
“My grandfather helped write and lobby for the laws to which our fisherman are required to adhere. These laws mandate we take the best care possible of the animals and ensure our industry is sustainable. What these hired hands did is an affront to the industry and my grandfather’s legacy. People who treat animals like that deserve the harshest penalties possible. I sincerely hope that this arrest sends the message that actions like these will not be tolerated.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 6:02 AM.
