2 fishermen arrested and jailed after they were caught with illegal grouper in the Keys
State fisheries cops in the Florida Keys locked up two men Sunday after they said they caught and kept 11 undersized fish.
One of the men, 54-year-old Edward Cruz, from Fort Lauderdale, remained in Monroe County jail on a $12,000 bond. The other man, Carlos Javier Santiago Rivera, 49, from Long Key, was released Monday afternoon. His bond information was not immediately available.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, two officers were patrolling the Channel 5 Bridge area in Islamorada early in the afternoon when they stopped a 14-foot aluminum boat on which Santiago Rivera and Cruz were fishing.
The officers found nine undersized red grouper, one undersized black grouper and one undersized yellowtail snapper, said FWC spokesman Officer Jason Rafter.
After the officers read the men their rights, they admitted to catching the fish and to knowing they were grouper, Rafter said.
They face multiple misdemeanor charges, including catching out-of-season grouper, possession of undersized red and black grouper, possession of undersized yellowtail snapper and violating the aggregate bag limit for Atlantic grouper.
