A South Florida boat captain, Jendys Machado Cardenas, 46, of Hialeah, was cited by Islamorada Marine Deputy Jason Farr for fishing inside a protected Florida Keys marine sanctuary on Friday afternoon.
Details of the Incident
Deputy Farr spotted Cardenas’s vessel tied to a mooring ball at the Hens and Chickens Reef, a designated Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA) located off Plantation Key near Mile Marker 87. Multiple people on board the boat were actively rod-and-reel fishing as well as spearfishing in the prohibited Upper Keys zone.
Cardenas claimed he did not know that fishing was prohibited in the area, despite the mooring ball clearly stating, “No Fishing or Lobstering.”
Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.
