During the past legislative session, the Allied Sportsmen’s Association, Florida Wildlife Federation, National Wild Turkey Federation, National Rifle Association, International Hunter Education Association, Quality Deer Management Association, Everglades Coordinating Council and Coastal Conservation Association and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) pushed for new legislation that increases penalties for hunting and fishing violations.

The law makes hunting or fishing with a suspended or revoked license a criminal offense, and increased the fine and added jail time and suspension of the license.

The new law also classifies violations at four levels and includes increased penalties at each level for repeat violators. They are:

Level 1: Noncriminal violations which do not directly impact natural resources, such as hunting or fishing without a license, deer hunting without an orange vest and violations of wildlife management area rules.

First and subsequent convictions result in a $50 fine plus court costs, unless the person was convicted of having no license. In that case, he would have to pay the cost of a license, too. Any subsequent violations of having no license would result in a mandatory $100 fine plus the cost of a license.

Level 2: Criminal infractions that directly impact resources, such as exceeding bag limits, fishing or hunting during closed seasons, violating artificial reef requirements and illegally feeding wildlife.

First conviction, a second-degree misdemeanor, results in a fine of up to $500 fine and 60 days in jail.

Second conviction -- within Level 2 and within three years -- first-degree misdemeanor with penalties of a mandatory minimum fine of $250 fine and up to a year in jail.

Third conviction -- within five years and Level 2 or higher -- first-degree misdemeanor charge with a mandatory $500 fine, a year in jail and a mandatory one-year suspension of all FWC recreational licenses and permits.

Fourth and subsequent convictions -- within 10 years of Level 2 or higher -- same penalties as a second and third conviction, but adds a minimum mandatory fine of $750 and a three-year suspension of all FWC recreational licenses and permits.

Level 3: Criminal violations of fish and wildlife laws that directly impact resources. These are considered more serious violations than in Level 2, such as possession of commercial quantities of freshwater game fish, taking deer or turkey during a closed season or with use of a gun and light at night, possession of three fish in excess of daily bag limit of trout, snook or redfish, taking 1,000 pounds-plus of illegal finfish or 100-plus lobsters, stones crabs or blue crabs.

First conviction, a first-degree misdemeanor, results in a fine of up to $1,000 and up to a year in jail.

Second conviction – within 10 years and within Level 3 or higher – results in a first-degree misdemeanor and up to a year in jail with a $750 minimum mandatory fine and mandatory three-year suspension of all FWC recreational licenses and permits.

Level 4: The most serious criminal fish and wildlife violations that directly impact natural resources, includes possession of a counterfeit license, molestation or theft of freshwater fishing gear or lobster, stone or blue crab traps, lines or buoys, or illegal sale of deer, turkey or marine fish that are illegally harvested.

First and subsequent convictions – third-degree felony – up to a $5,000 fine and five years in jail. Hunting or fishing with a suspended or revoked license is a first-degree misdemeanor, up from a noncriminal infraction which carried only a $50 fine, court costs and the cost of the license. Anyone convicted of violating the law now will face a mandatory $1,000 fine and 5-year suspension of all FWC recreational licenses, and could be sentenced up to a year in jail.