Incident occurred last August, LDWF says
Three men pleaded guilty to commercial oyster violations stemming from a stop by enforcement agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries last August in St. Bernard Parish.
According to a press release, Tyler Campo, 24, of St. Bernard, Brian Cocchiara, 24, of Chalmette and Nathan Molinary, 20, of Violet, pleaded guilty to one count each of unlawfully taking oysters from unleased state water bottoms and taking oysters during illegal hours.
Judge Kim Jones ordered the men to pay a fine of $800 each and serve 120 days in jail suspended. The men can also only harvest oysters from a vessel that is equipped with a vessel monitoring system that is accessible to LDWF agents, according to the release.
The oyster dredge that was seized during the stop was forfeited to the state, the release states.
Agents initially cited the men on Aug. 9, 2016 when they observed the men dredging for oysters in an area where they did not have permission one hour before legal harvest was set to begin, according to the release.
