In true sting fashion, FWC undercover investigators bought and sold a variety of prohibited and regulated species from Tampa businesses. The four businesses were the Little Fish Hut, the Friendly Fish Market, the MD Oriental Market and the Lien Hoa Oriental Market. Combined, owners and workers from the markets were charged with 4 felonies and 23 misdemeanors. Eight additional people still face a total of 13 counts.

The FWC made a concentrated effort to crackdown on illegal sales of fish, and it is showing. Recently, CCA recognized specific FWC officers for their part in “Operation No More Back Door,” which resulted in 50 arrests and 158 citations. That operation targeted restaurants that purchased fish from unlicensed sources and prohibited species such as snook.

In a very similar approach, this recent 4-month operation had agents posed as unlicensed wholesalers, selling and buying specially marked fish. Some of the freshwater gamefish species bought and sold were largemouth bass, shellcracker, warmouth, speckled perch and bluegill. Most freshwater gamefish are illegal to buy or sell. Investigators also sold saltwater species that included red grouper, mullet, sheepshead and sand perch. Those purchases were violations because undercover investigators posed as unlicensed wholesale fishermen.