MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has issued 20 criminal citations for overharvesting in Manatee County.
Many sea life critters are regulated, limiting how many can be removed from the waters per day per person.
Local charter captains shared how shocking the difference a few months has made below the surface.
"It's gone from 1000s to absolutely almost none," Captain Katie Tupin said.
She's talking about the dwindling population of pen shells.
Lightning whelk, hard clams, tulip snails and fighting conchs are also being removed in illegal quantities.
"I think it's a huge issue," Tupin said. "I've noticed a serious decline in certain species out here within just the last year since the summer of 2022."
Removing more water species than legally allowed is overharvesting, or more casually referred to as poaching. It's illegal.
There's a domino effect of an impact it has on the waterways.
"These are the water filters. They're the filter feeders," Tupin explained. "This is what is cleaning the water, filtering the water and if you removed too many of one species, let alone 10 different species they're taking out here, it affects the water quality pretty quick, especially in the summer months.
"It affects everything from the dolphins all the way down to the plankton that we can't see to the shrimp. It affects everything."
Last month, FWC issued two misdemeanor criminal citations to a captain for overharvesting. Violators face up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, per citation. In this instance, more than 250 live sea critters were returned to the waters.
According to FWC, since July 1, 2023, 20 criminal charges have been filed against individuals found to be in possession of regulated marine life from this location. Those charges include:
- The harvest of more than two live shellfish per species, per day in Manatee County
- The harvest of more than 20 individuals per day of tropical marine life species
- Possession of undersized stone crab
- Possession of egg-bearing stone crab
- Possession of whole-condition stone crab
- Possession of stone crab during closed season
In total, nearly 500 marine life specimens have been seized and returned alive to the water.
Manatee County captains who are on and in the water daily say it's obvious to see the impact poachers are having.
"Just yesterday, and today, I was out here at Jewfish," Captain Bruce Adamo said. "And yesterday, I saw probably a couple of 100 sea urchins. Yesterday afternoon, the poachers were out there. I'm out there today and I saw zero, just in that same spot that I went to yesterday."
Adamo and Tupin have now taken on the task of policing the waters in an effort to protect the waters' ecosystems.
"The only thing I've been left to do, I don't want to but I have to call FWC if they you know, don't listen, if they continue harvesting," Tupin said.
The FWC takes potential resource violations very seriously and encourages the public to report them by calling the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.