Handguns
Subscribe
Home› Conservation Forums
intowin
Junior MemberPosts: 17 Greenhorn
frozen red fish head onboard vessel
intowin
Junior MemberPosts: 17 Greenhorn
I kept a redfish head for crab bait and was nearly ticketed for it despite the fact it was frozen. Law officer said fish had to be landed in whole condition. I was under the impression this law delt with the filets and not the carcuss. If I want to dispose of my carcusses into my crab trap wouldnt this be leagal. Especially if the carcus is still evidently half frozen and no filets are on board?
Replies
"Well Gary, the easiest way to look tall is to stand in a room full of short people." - Curtis Bostick
"All these forums, with barely any activity, are like a neglected old cemetery that no one visits anymore."- anonymouse
Not much more to the story other than he really was an **** from the beginning. He kept saying I dont know what you could have done with the filets. Maybe you gave them to a buddy on the river. (Oh yes gave em to a buddy and kept the heads which mysteriously froze on my way to the ramp) And yes it was obvious I was crabbing as the boat was covered in mud.
No joke guys this happened and I hope to find clarity..
Do you have a FoodSaver? Granted, you'd have to waste a bag or two, but it would be pretty clear that you didn't vacuum pack while on the water.
FOR RENT: Beautiful 2 bed 2 bath condo in Hunter Springs, Crystal River
My tarpon club chunks Spanish mackerel for bait regularly, which is also not permitted. I don't know of anyone who has been cited for that, and since your guy did not cite you where he could well have, it doesn't seem to be high on their list of crimes to prosecute.
"Well Gary, the easiest way to look tall is to stand in a room full of short people." - Curtis Bostick
"All these forums, with barely any activity, are like a neglected old cemetery that no one visits anymore."- anonymouse
allowing carcusses on board would not enable someone to circumvent length limits as no filets on board would be the law that would still be enforced. The law should say no filets but carcuss ok..
Unfortunately, I can't show you where its allowed (b/c it isn't) but I can show you where it is prohibited.
68 FL ADC 68B-22.006
All redfish harvested from Florida waters shall be landed in a whole condition. The possession, while in or on state waters, on any public or private fishing pier, or on a bridge or catwalk attached to a bridge from which fishing is allowed, or on any jetty, of any redfish that has been deheaded, sliced, divided, filleted, ground, skinned, scaled or deboned is prohibited. Mere evisceration or “gutting” of redfish, or mere removal of gills from redfish, before landing is not prohibited. Preparation of redfish for immediate consumption on board the vessel from which the fish were caught is not prohibited.
I applaud you for trying to not waste any of the fish, however, to be technically legal you need to use either an unregulated species or a species that doesn't require you to land in whole condition (e.g. mullet caught for non-commercial purposes).
There are a lot of laws in my pinheaded world, which if I were king of it, would say something else. This one is not worth the battle to change.
I would suggest that if you have not been hurt, there is no need to holler.
"Well Gary, the easiest way to look tall is to stand in a room full of short people." - Curtis Bostick
"All these forums, with barely any activity, are like a neglected old cemetery that no one visits anymore."- anonymouse
Not gonna drive it in the ground but I still do not feel the above law is protecting the carcuss only the good part of the fish like the filet and meat.
I will probably continue doing what I have been doing, and if I get ticketed will glady have my day in court. I will also make sure my heads are frozen on board as to have no confusion on the matter.
Please post your legal name and boat registration numbers and the dates and location that you will be doing this to save the tax payers investigation time as well as expedite an informative and entertaining conclusion to your thread.
"Well Gary, the easiest way to look tall is to stand in a room full of short people." - Curtis Bostick
"All these forums, with barely any activity, are like a neglected old cemetery that no one visits anymore."- anonymouse
I think you misunderstood my intentions. My intention is not find that one leo out of 5,000 on this site that loves to pick a battle. The intention is to continue to do as I have been doing, and if I run into a leo that decides to site me, I will gladly take the time I need to take and clear the issue up in court. For the crabbers out there that do not want to willfully engage in wantant waste of marine product including me it is the right thing to do. If the law needs to change maybe I can be the catalist. I still find it very doubtful that I can be ticketed for having a FROZEN fish head on board a vessel that has no freezer.
Bream thanks for the responce but again I do know why the rule exist but you too are missing the point. Having only a head on board and no fileted meat would not enable anyone to keep undersize fish unless they are dumb enough to throw the meat overboard and bring home the carcuss.
The rule cited above says you can prepare a redfish for immedeate consuption on board a vessel, so when do you throw out the head and carcas? If you aren't allowed to keep it then it forces you to rid yourself of proof that you may have filled your bag limit, potentially with no fish in the cooler (if you can eat two now). So if you are preparing the redfish for consumption and an officer sees you lop the head off and chunk the head overboard then comes to ask if the fish was legal length, how are you going to proove it was long enough? or should you even have to prove it under that rule? Are you supposed to keep the skeleton if you do prepare the redfish for immedeate consuption? Can you, as part of preparation for immedete consumption on board a vessel, fillet a redfish and marinade it for a little bit?, or let it soak in lime juice to become civiche? Or is there a strict procedure as to how one must immedeatly cook redfish while on board a vessel?, do I check the "sportsman's kitchen" for that rule citation? Does that mean that only boats without kitchens will be targeted for enforecment?, Maybe the solution is to carry a butane stove and skillet with you or a bunch of limes, and then you are covered.
I think I'm asking reasonable questions that point to a weakness of that rule. And I think that you are silly if you think that bringing a part of a fish back to the water that you already brought to land is still called "landing" or "landed". And I think it is silly for a rule to say, "must be whole...or you can cut it up if you want to eat it now"
To stir the pot further I don't think you are allowed to use sportfishes as bait. That might also include crabbing.
:snicker with art::grin
perfect explanation!
Thanks
I bring smoked fish on the boat all the time and like intowin, I'm not going to change that just because one FWC officer decides to harass me about it. And I most definitely will holler about it if that day comes. I understand you are simply pointing out what the law states, what some of us are trying to say is that common sense needs to be applied when enforcing the law. It was obvious that intowin was not poaching.
But, then again, I had to show a Game and Fish officer the difference between a jack and a pompano one time just before trial...
If it remains in your home or hotel or someone else's in a refridgerator. Not in a cooler and not in your boat as indicated in the first paragraph.
This isn't all that complicated.
"Well Gary, the easiest way to look tall is to stand in a room full of short people." - Curtis Bostick
"All these forums, with barely any activity, are like a neglected old cemetery that no one visits anymore."- anonymouse
http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?303-8-21-10-FPI-Crazzzy-Day-Offshore-Fishing-Trip
"...Things to keep in mind are: Once the fish are processed and placed in a freezer (not a cooler) at a residence (e.g., their permanent home, a mobile home or motel catering to anglers), they become a food product. From that point on there is no longer a limit on them. So for instance, if someone is fishing all winter and keeps processing their catch and adding fish to their freezer, then puts them on ice to transport someplace else, they can exceed the possession limit."
Truth is that people are people. and people aren't good. let a cop stop you for going 6MPH over the speed limit after he just got back in his cruiser from doing a traffic homicide as a result of speeding and see what you get. The same officer 5 minutes before that event would have been in a different frame of mind and might not have even stopped you.
Society has placed an enormous right with LEO's of all the branches... and most do not handle it well, most of the time. An LEO has alot of discretion..both to let you go or harass the crap out of you. And most of them get it wrong alot of the time. I hate even seeing a cop nowadays. There is no telling what the man is going to do... it all depends on if the "Hot Donuts" light was lit at the last Krispy kreme he went by, or his wife has filed for divorce, or he didn't get the police car he wanted...or....
To the poster that was an asst DA. you stated you were associated with more than one case which pertained to the topic but you never gave ANY info as to the verdicts and why..would you please tell us?