Alabama man fined for grouper mix-up

An Alabama man’s pride in hauling in what he and three fishing buddies thought was a near-record size grouper off St. George Island last summer has turned into prosecution.

Billy Daniels, 51, of Moody, Ala., agreed Nov. 18 to a deferred prosecution deal with the State Attorney’s office in Apalachicola after a three-month state investigation revealed the fish – 82” long and 66” around - was not a Warsaw grouper, as Daniels and his crew believed.

Instead, DNA testing ordered by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission determined from frozen meat samples that it was a goliath grouper, a species protected by both state and federal laws.

After reviewing the test results with FWC investigator Eric Johnston, assistant state attorney Jarred Patterson agreed to charge Daniels, who captained the boat, with a second degree misdemeanor, possession of goliath grouper, which can be punishable by as much as 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Daniels was cited rather than his son, Shawn, who caught the fish, because as captain he is responsible for the fish being landed, Johnston said.

The deferred prosecution agreement calls for Daniels to be fined $150, which Patterson said was typically sought with first offenses. In addition, Daniels agreed to donate $150 to the state’s Wildlife Alert Reward program, which offers cash incentives for reporting to FWC those in possible violation of fish and wildlife laws, or boating under the influence of alcohol.

            The agreement spells out the misdemeanor charge will be dismissed after 90 days, assuming Daniels is not charged with other fish or wildlife law violations in Florida. “As long as he keeps his nose clean and has no violations, at the end of the probationary period the charges will be dropped,” said Johnston.

The investigator said given Daniels’ cooperation, and no demonstrated intent to break the law, he and the prosecutor had no interest in pursuing further charges.

“I never had an ounce of trouble with him,” said Johnston. “He could have told me that he didn’t have any fish and there’s nothing I could have done about it. He has never been anything but cooperative.”

Instead, Daniels provided an Alabama Department of Natural Resources officer with a three-pound plastic bag of frozen fillet from the enormous fish, caught June 25 on an artificial reef about 15 miles southeast of St. George Island.

Daniels and his crew filleted the grouper on the dock of Bay City Lodge, but didn’t have equipment to weigh it, so instead used a conventional formula to estimate it at about 446 pounds.

Had it been a Warsaw, it would have rivaled the world record of 436 pounds, 12 ounces, set by Capt. Steve Haeusler, fishing out of Destin on Dec. 22, 1985.

            The largest goliath grouper ever landed in Florida was a 680-pounder caught off Fernandina Beach in 1961, about three decades before the federal ban was put in place.

            No sooner had a photograph of Daniels’ remarkable catch run in the Apalachicola Times that some careful observers began questioning whether the crew had mistakenly snared a goliath grouper, the so-called jewfish, thinking it was a Warsaw. The FWC agreed to investigate.

“He said he keeps Vic Dunaway’s fish identification book on his boat,” Johnston said. “He said he’s caught goliath grouper before and let them go and he understood the rule. He just made a mistake.”

After receiving the sample from the Alabama DNR officer, Johnston had it sent to FWC’s laboratory in St. Petersburg. Forensic biologist Hector Cruz Lopez conducted the testing by comparing the DNA test results of Daniels’ fish against confirmed DNA profiles of goliath, Warsaw and three other types of grouper.

‘You need to be sure of what you’re catching and what you’re bringing in,” said Johnston. “Know the laws. Know what’s legal and illegal.”

            Goliath grouper numbers dropped sharply in the 1970s and 1980s because of overfishing.  The species has been protected in Florida waters since 1990.

            Experienced offshore anglers say Warsaw grouper are usually found in 300 to 400 feet of water.  Goliath grouper are typically found in more shallow coastal waters.