State law enforcement officers cast their net over Lake Ponte Vedra last week and arrested five Jacksonville residents they say were using an illegal net to fish in the Guana River Wildlife Management Area.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the five were using a 5,217 square-foot entanglement net, or gill net, and the size of the operation may point to an informal network of Jacksonville residents exploiting the lake.
"A gill net is an indiscriminant killer," said Lt. Steve Zukowsky of the St. Johns Coastal Crew, the arresting officers’ supervisor. "It’s not selective. Commercial fishing gear is set up to target a primary species, but a gill net cannot be set up like that. It basically takes everything in the area."
Different from a cast net, a gill net has small openings that are just large enough for a fish to fit its head through but not its body. When trying to back up through the opening, the gills become entangled, giving the net its name. Because of the trauma inflicted from the process, and because it takes a relatively long period of time to remove unwanted fish, nearly every fish in the haul is dead before it’s brought into the boat or on land.
Jacksonville residents Kel Ku, 36, Faw Nay Moo, 23, Percy Khin, 57, Kyaw Thuya, 28 and Than Win, 41, were arrested.
The five where charged with third-degree felonies because the net was made of monofilament line and was larger than 2,000 square feet.
In addition the four men and one woman were also charged first-degree misdemeanors for having "over the bag limit" of redfish and second-degree misdemeanors for the harvest of spotted sea trout by illegal method, possession of undersized redfish, possession of undersized sea trout and possession of undersized black drum.
Zukowsky said the nature of the violations, the size of the net and the targeted location invites speculation over whether the incident is part of an underground commercial operation, but the Fish and Wildlife Commission found no evidence that the harvest was being sold commercially and none of the fishermen had commercial licenses. Zukowsky also feels there may some coordination among some Jacksonville fisherman.
"We have many residents from Jacksonville who fish in the PV L at the dam there, so you may ask yourself why they come down here, so it seems someone’s putting out word that it’s a good place to harvest fish," he said. "I doubt there’s a formal network but it appears there may be some form of informal network, where they’re learning about the location on Ponte Vedra Lake."
The incident occurred in the wildlife management area near the dam, where even cast nets are prohibited. Fish and Wildlife Commission officers were monitoring two other fisherman using cast nets near the dam when they heard a noise that alerted them to the fisherman using the gill net.
According to the incident report, officers found the suspects fishing with no lights at 10:30 p.m. Zukowsky said operating in near-total darkness with a 5,200 square-foot net suggests highly skilled and experienced fishermen.
"This net was made of very fine monofilament line and not the type of net a commercial fisherman would use," he said. "The filament in those nets is much thicker and stouter, but this was a very fine net and it was very easy to conceal in a small cooler. It’s the first time I’ve seen a net with this fine of monofilament."
Fishing with a large gill net is uncommon, said Zukowsky, partly due to the fact it was banned in state waters in 1995. Because use has dropped off, so have violations. Three to five cast netting violations are reported per week in the area, said Zukowsky.
"There’s signage there all over the place that shows you pictures, size limits, bag limits, the type of gear you can use, where you can go and where you can’t," said Zukowsky. " ... these are people that are intentionally disregarding those signs because they don’t care."
