Lobster season is more than a month away. Police say he got an illegal start with 28
Anglers still need to wait about a month before they can hop in the water to hunt for the South Florida delicacy that is the Florida spiny lobster. But some people are willing to face jail time to get an early crack at the crustaceans.
That’s what Monroe County sheriff’s deputies say happened to 34-year-old Luis Miguel Blett Sanchez, who was visiting the Keys from Jacksonville when he was caught with 28 out-of-season lobsters.
That’s just one of the violations on which he was booked into county jail Monday, where he remained Tuesday afternoon.
When Monroe Deputy Willie Guerra, who specializes in fisheries cases in the Keys, spotted Blett Sanchez near the Channel 5 Bridge that connects Craig and Fiesta keys, he was diving with a speargun, according to the sheriff’s office.
It’s illegal to catch spiny lobsters with a speargun or anything else that can pierce the animal’s shell. They must be brought to shore whole.
Guerra said out of the 28 lobsters Blett Sanchez caught, 18 were undersized. Their tails had been wrung and he had no measuring device on him, which is required by law.
Had it been season, Blett Sanchez could have also been looking at a charge for being over the bag limit. A person is only allowed to keep six lobsters per day of fishing.
Regular recreational and commercial lobster season starts Aug. 6 and runs through March 31. In late July, there’s a two-day “mini-season” when anglers can fish for spiny lobster. This year’s mini-season is July 26 and 27.
Information about Blett Sanchez’s legal representation was not immediately available, nor was his bond amount.
