MONROE COUNTY, Fla. – A Pembroke Pines man was arrested Monday after he was caught with 13 undersized lobster in the Florida Keys, authorities said.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Officer Bobby Dube said two officers were in plain clothes Monday while on water patrol in an unmarked boat on the bayside of the west end of the Channel 5 Bridge when they saw a man in the water with a mask, snorkel and fins.
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Dube said the officers approached Derek Gene Manzi, 30, after he got out of the water holding a yellow pole spear and asked if he had caught anything.
Manzi said he had speared some lobster, Dube said.
The officers identified themselves as law enforcement and asked Manzi to hand them his bag that contained the lobster.
Dube said the bag contained 15 spiny lobster and two live rocks. All 15 lobster showed signs of being speared and 13 were undersized, authorities said.
Dube said Manzi confessed to spearing the lobster and said he had no way of measuring them.
He was arrested on charges of harvesting spiny lobster out of season, harvesting spiny lobster by spearing them, spearfishing in the Upper Keys, possession of undersized spiny lobster, having no measuring device, and possession of live rock.
He was also issued an infraction for not having a dive flag.