Mother Nature threw Plaquemines Parish a curveball this year, but May is the month speckled trout anglers should hit it out of the park.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents made a major bust Monday night of a well-known charter captain who allegedly harvested an incredible amount of red snapper.
Capt. David Harrelson, 52, of Lockport returned to Fourchon April 28 with 909 red snapper weighing a total of 2,459 pounds, according to LDWF Col. Keith LaCaze.
“It’s really difficult to get your mind around a number that large,” LaCaze said. Of the 909 snapper, 287 were undersized, LaCaze said.
The recreational limit for snapper this year is two per angler with a minimum length of 16 inches. The season, however, is closed until June 1.
Harrelson is well-known for skippering the Capt. Charlie, named for the late Capt. Charlie Hardison.
Charged with Harrelson were his deckhand, 45-year-old Donald Humphrey, and 18 Georgia anglers.
“We got a tip that the boat was coming in, and that they had been fishing snapper,” LaCaze said. Because of the commercial value of the haul, the fish were seized and sold to the highest bidder for $9,221, LaCaze said.
The recreational catch quota for the entire Gulf this year is 2.45 million pounds of red snapper.
The case against Harrelson and the other anglers includes multiple federal violations, and will likely be adjudicated in the federal system, LaCaze said.