Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers arrested five poachers that used a massive, illegal gill net to catch undersize fish near Lake Ponte Vedra in the Guana River Wildlife Management Area. The five Jacksonville residents were caught in the act one night last month by FWC officers. On June 28, the individuals were issued notices to appear in court and on Thursday, July 24 they were arrested.

“We were watching two other fishermen using castnets in the wildlife management area near the dam, which is illegal,” said FWC officer Steve Bacon, who spotted the violators along with officer Benjamin Boots. “We heard a noise and checked it out.”

The officers found that the five people had 22 undersize redfish, seven spotted seatrout (five undersize) and five black drum (three undersize). In all, there was a gill net, two castnets, 17 blue crabs and 103 fish in a 50-quart cooler, Bacon said. “The suspects’ net was made of monofilament line and measured out at 5,217 square feet.”

In addition to this third-degree felony charge, the four men and one woman were also charged with over the bag limit of redfish, a first-degree misdemeanor; harvest of spotted seatrout by illegal method, a second-degree misdemeanor; possession of undersize redfish, a second-degree misdemeanor; possession of undersize spotted seatrout, a second-degree misdemeanor; and possession of undersize black drum, a second-degree misdemeanor.

“The entangling net used to harvest these fish is a highly indiscriminate killer and can easily decimate a local population in minutes,” said Steve Zukowsky of the St. Johns Coastal Crew, the officers’ supervisor.

This marks a second, recent big bust by the FWC. The first was a Grand Slam effort which included a 7-person, 57-count indictment of selling redfish, out-of-season snapper and other protected fish.