Posted on 06/19/2002 9:25:54 PM PDT by chance33_98
Local Minister Charged For Killing Turtle Florida's Five Species Of Sea Turtles Are Protected Posted: 6:14 a.m. EDT June 19, 2002 Updated: 8:15 a.m. EDT June 19, 2002
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Environmentalists said they hope the trial of a pastor charged with killing an endangered sea turtle will help prevent more illegal turtle killings as scalloping season approaches. The Rev. Luscious Stevenson, 46, of Summerfield, was arrested May 14 on the Cedar Key fishing pier. Witnesses said they saw a man catch and kill a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, then put it in his cooler and continue fishing.
"I was confused with freshwater rules and sea rules," Stevenson wrote in a statement to officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "I honestly thought you could keep one sea turtle: I was wrong and shocked when informed by authorities I had broken the law. I've been fishing from the dock for 12 years with no prior violations."
David Godfrey, executive director of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, said he fears more people will inadvertently kill endangered turtles this year because the state has expanded the region for scallop harvesting and people may not know the rules.
"You can't just grab whatever is in your net and take it home and boil it up," Godfrey said.
Florida's five species of sea turtles are protected. The green, Kemp's Ridley, hawksbill, and leatherback are endangered and the loggerhead is a threatened species.
Florida allows recreational fishermen to take some freshwater turtles, said commission spokesman Lt. Dewey Weaver.
Scallop season runs from July 1 until Sept. 10.
Yes I can.
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