FWC Report
During the week of Sept. 27 through Oct. 3, Officers Hartzog and Forbes observed an individual fishing under the John Gorrie Bridge while they were patrolling on Apalachicola Bay. The officers moored their patrol vessel to conduct a resource inspection and discovered he was in possession of an undersized red drum and two undersized spotted seatrout.
Forbes and Hartzog, while on night patrol at Apalachicola Bay, observed a vessel returning from offshore displaying gear consistent with fishing. The officers stopped the vessel to conduct a resource inspection and observed the subjects to be in possession of 11 undersized red grouper that were both out of season and over the daily bag limit; five undersized and over the daily bag limit of gray triggerfish; and one undersized scamp. The violations were cited accordingly.
Hartzog was on night patrol at St. George Island Sound and observed a commercial fishing vessel with no navigation lights and two individuals on board fishing with a large net. After stopping the vessel to conduct a resource and boating safety inspection, the officer observed the subjects in possession of commercial quantities of mullet, multiple spotted seatrout, several sheepshead, over their daily bag limit of red drum and a tarpon. Hartzog escorted the subjects to a nearby boat ramp and Forbes arrived on scene to assist. Upon inspection of the net being fished and the additional nets on board, they were observed to be in violation of over 500 square feet and untagged. The two commercial anglers also could not provide a current saltwater products license and restricted species endorsement. One of the individuals, identified to have an active warrant, was arrested and transported to Franklin County Jail. The individuals were cited accordingly.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.