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Two Miami-Dade County men face a total of seven charges following a routine inspection May 24 in the Florida Bay near the Channel 5 Bridge in Monroe County.
FWC Officer Liz Riesz found 33-year old Adel A. Fontes of Miami-Dade County scaling a snook and observed another snook already scaled and chopped up in a pot next to him. Riesz charged Fontes with four misdemeanors: possession of snook during closed season; possession of undersized snook; failure to maintain fish in whole condition; and exceeding the bag limit.
Fontes was part of a group camping in the area. After receiving consent from another man to search his vehicle, Officer Riesz and Investigator David Roudebush found wet spearguns in the man’s possession. The man, 33-year old Eduardo Lopez, later admitted to spearing 29 lobster, which he said he hid in a bag concealed under a pile of leaves under a tree next to the campsite. Officer Tom Hill and K-9 Jasmine arrived and located the contraband under the tree as described.
There were 29 tails, 20 of which were undersized. Lopez was taken to jail and charged with possession of crawfish during closed season, possession of undersized crawfish and possession of speared crawfish – all misdemeanors.
