FWC officers rescue stranded oystermen

Officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Division of Law Enforcement rescued two stranded oystermen off Porter’s oyster bar late last month.

On the night of Monday, Sept. 28, Officer Chasen Yarborough and Lt. Charlie Wood conducted a search-and-rescue mission in Apalachicola Bay in the area of Porter’s oyster bar. A 15-foot commercial oyster vessel occupied by two individuals had been reported overdue.

Utilizing night vision equipment, the officers began a search grid just west of Porter’s oyster bar. With no vessels in sight, Pilot Frank Utermohlen was summoned to assist in the search from the air, along with another commercial oyster vessel.

Just before 1 a.m. Yarborough and Wood spotted a signal fire onboard the overdue vessel. After arriving at the overdue vessel and ascertaining that the motor would not start and that no one was in need of medical attention, the disabled vessel was towed into Eastpoint.

While conducting license and fisheries inspections in the Bald Point State Park, Officer John Allen was found an angler in possession of undersize mangrove snapper and red drum as well as over-the-bag limit on red drum.

The angler was issued a misdemeanor citation for the undersize red drum, written warnings for the undersize mangrove snapper (released alive) and the bag limit violation on the red drum.

On the night of Sept. 30 Officers Travis Huckeba, John Allen, and Jason Carroll were on water patrol in the area of Lanark Reef. Utilizing night vision equipment, the officers located a gill net boat fishing the area. While attempting to stop the vessel one of the crewmen pushed the illegal gill net overboard. After stopping the vessel, and retrieving the illegal net from the water, the two fishermen admitted to the officers the net was theirs.

The two fishermen were each charged with possession of a gill or entangling net, possession of a net with mesh size larger than two inch stretch, possession of a gill or entangling net on a vessel under 25 feet in length with the motor in the forward half of the vessel, and carriage of a gill or entangling net across state waters. Felony charges are also pending the outcome of the measurement of the net’s square footage.