Last week, poachers on Pine Island (Lee County) stacked the filleted carcasses of 52 undersize snook in the middle of a public road.

"This blatant display of disregard for marine resource laws is yet anther incident in a long list of poaching and illegal netting activities in this area," said CCA Florida Executive Director Ted Forsgren. "There appears to be no end to the lawlessness nor to the extent that the poachers will go to publicly display their contempt for resource laws."

In a July 29, 1998 letter, CCA Florida urged Governor Lawton Chiles to request priority action from appropriate state law enforcement agencies to stop the ongoing outlaw activity in the Pine Island area.

"This is not the first time that poachers have deliberately displayed their contempt for laws," said Forsgren. Other major poaching incidents in the area include the dumping of snook carcasses on the doorstep of the U. S. Post Office on Pine Island, hanging filleted snook carcasses on navigational markers and nailing baby tarpon to telephone poles.

Additionally, Forsgren stated that the Pine Island area continues to be a hotbed of illegal gill netting, particularly during the fall mullet spawning season. Last March, CCA Florida gathered photographic evidence of outlaw gill netting activity. Photographers went to west coast fish houses and commercial docking facilities and took numerous photos of small (16 to 23 foot) flat bottom net boats with large monofilament gill nets on board. Many of the photos were taken in the Pine Island area.

"The only place those gill nets could be legally used is more than ten miles out into the Gulf of Mexico," said Forsgren. "Those net boats were clearly not capable of operating that far offshore. The only legitimate conclusion is that the net boats and gill nets were being used for illegal netting in inshore waters."

Every year CCA Florida has forwarded numerous eyewitness accounts of illegal gill netting activity at specific fish houses. Reports of illegal gill netting in broad daylight are not unusual.

"It is important to note that these reports have come to us from commercial fishermen as well as recreational anglers," said Forsgren. "The legitimate fishers are disgusted by all the blatant illegal activity in this area." Some arrests have been made; however, the poaching simply continues.

The Florida Marine Patrol (FMP) put out a call for information on the recent snook poaching incident indicating that callers would remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000. CCA Florida has indicated to the FMP that they would provide additional funds for the reward program for information leading to the arrest of the poachers. Local businesses and other interested groups have indicated to CCA that they too would provide additional reward funds to help bring an end to the serious poaching problems.

"There is no other area of the state where poachers display such blatant disregard for marine laws and marine law enforcement officials. In stacking the 52 snook carcasses, the Pine Island poachers made their public statement and issued their challenge to state law enforcement," said Forsgren. "We hope that Governor Chiles will act strongly to bring an end to the ongoing outlaw activity."