Ocean Sentry
(From floridatoday.com)- Two Florida men face hefty fines in connection with harvesting soft-shell turtles in an area of the St. Johns River where turtle harvesting is prohibited. They had two trot lines, totaling about five-miles in length, with 5,000 hooks baited with raw chicken, and about 30 soft-shell turtles caught on the line. During a regular patrol, officers arrested Nghiep Tran, 46, of Orlando, at 1:50 p.m. Monday at the St. Johns River boat ramp off State Road 50 in North Brevard County.
He was written up for harvesting the turtles without a freshwater commercial fishing license and using commercial fishing gear south of State Road 46.
No harvest of freshwater turtles is allowed in the St. Johns between State 46 to State Road 192, said Lenny Salberg, spokesman with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
