Men on shrimping boat didn’t have commercial licenses, LDWF says
Three Texas men were cited June 19 in connection with 42 red snapper found in the boat in which they were fishing, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said.
LDWF enforcement agents cited 49-year-old Oscar Naranjo of Galveston, Texas; 51-year-old Eustacio Rangel of Port Isabelle, Texas; and 47-year-old Vincent Longoria of Palacios, Texas, for being in possession of 42 red snapper.
The incident happened when agents on a joint enforcement-agreement patrol 50 miles south of Grand Isle saw an 80-foot vessel trawling for shrimp. Agents boarded the vessel and performed an inspection during which they allegedly found the red snapper frozen below deck in an insulated holding box.
The LDWF said that fishermen aboard vessels with shrimp trawls may not exceed the recreational reef fish bag limit, which is two per person with a minimum 16 inches in total length for red snapper. The men allegedly did not have commercial permits needed to harvest and sell reef fish under federal quotas and in excess of bag limits, the LDWF said.
