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FWC serving notice on prior fish and
wildlife law violators
May 4, 2007
Contact: Carol Pratt (850) 488-4676
Prior offenders of Florida’s fish and wildlife
laws will be receiving notice soon from the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) that the next time they
are caught they could face stricter penalties. Over the next
week, the FWC will mail about 30,000 notices to prior violators.
The notices result from a 2006 statute, commonly
referred to as the "Enhanced Penalty Law.” It increases
penalties for those who repeatedly violate Florida’s
recreational saltwater fishing, freshwater fishing and hunting
laws; increases the penalty for hunting or fishing with a
suspended or revoked license and establishes mandatory fines and
suspension of recreational licenses.
"It is meant to deter individuals from hunting
or fishing illegally,” Capt. Curtis Brown, FWC’s Interstate
Wildlife Compact administrator, said. "Repeat offenders could
lose their hunting and fishing privileges for several years or
in some cases their lifetime.”
Under this law, Florida joins 23 other states in
the Wildlife Violator Compact, which prevents anyone who has had
his hunting, fishing or trapping privileges revoked or suspended
in his home state from engaging in those activities in any other
member state.
"Wildlife lawbreakers cannot escape consequences
simply by crossing the state line,” Brown said.
The law classifies violations at four levels and
includes increased penalties at each level for repeat violators.
Level 1 violations are those that do not
directly impact natural resources, such as hunting or fishing
without a license, deer hunting without an orange vest and
violations of wildlife management area rules.
For Level 1 violations, first and subsequent
convictions result in a $50 fine plus court costs, unless the
defendant was convicted of having no license. In that case, he
would have to pay the cost of a license, too. Any subsequent
violations of having no license would result in a mandatory $100
fine plus the cost of a license.
Level 2 violations are criminal
infractions that directly impact resources, such as exceeding
bag limits, fishing or hunting during closed seasons, violating
artificial reef requirements and illegally feeding wildlife.
For those violations the first conviction is
punishable by a maximum $500 fine and 60 days in jail. A second
conviction within three years carries a mandatory minimum fine
of $250 and up to a year in jail. A third conviction within five
years can result in a mandatory $500 fine, a year in jail and a
mandatory one-year suspension of all FWC recreational licenses
and permits. Fourth and subsequent convictions within 10 years
of Level 2 or higher carry the same penalties plus a minimum
mandatory fine of $750 and a three-year suspension of all FWC
recreational licenses and permits.
Level 3 infractions are more serious
violations, such as illegal possession of commercial quantities
of freshwater game fish, taking deer or turkey during a closed
season or with use of a gun and light at night, possession of
three fish in excess of the daily bag limit of trout, snook or
redfish, taking 1,000 pounds or more of illegal finfish or 100
or more lobsters, stone crabs or blue crabs.
First conviction will result in a maximum $1,000
fine and a year in jail. A second conviction within 10 years
carries a maximum one year in jail and mandatory minimum $750
fine plus mandatory three-year suspension of all FWC
recreational licenses and permits.
Level 4 infractions are the most serious
violations. They include possession of a counterfeit license,
molestation or theft of freshwater fishing gear or lobster,
stone or blue crab traps, lines or buoys, or illegal sale of
illegally harvested deer, turkey or marine fish.
First and subsequent convictions are punishable
by up to a $5,000 fine and five years in jail.
Hunting or fishing with a suspended or revoked
license previously carried a penalty of a mere $50 fine, court
costs and the cost of the license. Anyone convicted of violating
the law now will face a mandatory $1,000 fine and five-year
suspension of all FWC recreational licenses, and could face up
to a year in jail. |
