25-year-old Enrique Angel Perez, a fisherman of Louisville, Corozal, is facing a 20-thousand-dollar fine. That's after he was taken to court for being in possession of 15 undersized lobsters and three soft shell lobsters.
Belizean law enforcement authorities say that on Sunday, August 7, they boarded a vessel by the name of "Adela T," just south of Northern Two Caye. Perez was aboard the boat, and when the law enforcement team searched the vessel, they discovered three lobsters with soft shells. They continued to search the boat, and that's when they found 15 undersized lobsters with tails that weighed less than 4 ounces.
Perez was charged with two separate fisheries offenses, and when he was arraigned in the Magistrate's Court today, he 'fessed up and pleaded guilty. In mitigation, he explained it was never his intention to catch undersized lobsters. He told the court that he didn't have a weighted scale to measure their sizes. He also told the magistrate that when he is out on a fishing trip, they rarely see big lobsters; when he does, they are very difficult to catch.
Because of his guilty plea, Perez was fined 10 thousand dollars, to be paid by December 31. In default, he will spend six months in prison. He was additionally fined 750 dollars, and for the soft shell lobsters, he was fined another 10 thousand dollars.
So, in total, Perez must pay $20,960.00. Court reports indicate that he was spared an even more significant sum because the magistrate considered several mitigating factors in his favor.
