Quote:
Officer Kenneth Manning received a call from Alabama Marine Resources requesting assistance with a net case. A net boat was observed fishing in the Gulf of Mexico just off the beach at the state line. Officer Manning quickly responded to the area, began searching for the vessel and located the 28-foot homemade vessel moored at the Bayou Grande Marina on Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola. Officer Manning alerted the Navy Security Forces and, within minutes, was notified three adult males on foot were apprehended. Lieutenant Dan Hahr, Officers Faris Livesay and James Rockwell responded to the area to assist with the investigation. Lieutenant Hahr and Officer Manning interviewed the subjects and were initially told they had been towed into the marina after having engine trouble. Officers with Alabama Marine Resources located a piece of a monofilament gill net that was left behind by the net fishermen. The vessel owner admitted that he had a net in his boat, but claimed that he was shark fishing in federal waters as he was permitted to do. The officers continued to interview the owner and obtained a confession that he had been fishing in Alabama waters very near to the Florida line, but was spooked by witnesses, cut the net, and then fled to the Pensacola Pass. The subjects located a place to park their boat and got a ride. Unfortunately, the marina is located on a secure Naval Air Station. The officers located two monofilament gill nets in the boat. One of the nets was wet and contained approximately 75 pounds of coastal fish including blue runner, Spanish mackerel, blue fish, and one blue crab. The larger net was estimated to be approximately 20,000 square feet. The vessel owner was arrested and charged with two felony counts of possession of a monofilament entangling net (flagrant violation), two counts of carriage of illegal nets across state waters, and two counts of possession of a net that was not marked as required. The man was booked at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. He and the other two subjects onboard were issued notices to appear in front of a Federal Magistrate for unlawful entry onto a military base for unlawful purposes. Officers with Alabama Marine Resources are conducting an investigation regarding net fishing without a license and additional charges are pending.
