Conservation Law Enfocement Corner – November 2024

The Conservation LE Corner is designed to highlight the efforts of Georgia DNR Law Enforcement Division (LED) officers who, among their many duties, protect Georgia’s wildlife, sportsmen and natural resources from game-law violators.

McIntosh County: On May 2, 2024, Game Warden First Class Lucas Barnard and Corporal Bright were patrolling Doboy Sound and the beach off Sapelo Island when they noticed a shrimp trawler working toward the beach. At first, the trawler was 3 1/2 nautical miles from the beach, but it was working its way inshore. The Game Wardens continued to watch the vessel drag toward closed waters and into closed waters until it was 2.46 nautical miles from the beach.

The line for closed waters to commercial shrimping is 3 miles from the beach.

The DNR Law Enforcement Division officers moved to engage the shrimp boat. Once alongside the trawler, Corporal Bright turned on the emergency lights and Barnard tried to hail the captain using the VHF radio on channel 16. After trying to hail the captain of the trawler several times on channel 16, Corporal Bright maneuvered the patrol vessel to be seen from the pilot house of the trawler. The captain noticed the blue lights and exited the pilot house.

The captain brought the trawler down to idle speed and walked onto the back deck of the trawler so he could speak with the Game Wardens. The captain said that neither of his radar units were working. He was notified that he was 2 1/2 miles off the beach, inside the 3-mile line in closed waters. The captain was instructed to bring his nets in and to head inshore to Doboy Sound to be boarded. The captain said he would have to run the channel since he did not have a working radar. Corporal Bright got ahead of his boat and led him in the channel to the sound.

Once inside Doboy Sound, the captain was able to get the trawler anchored so Game Warden Barnard could board the vessel. Once on board, the two deck hands were identified, and licenses were checked. It was discovered that the boat did not have the proper commercial licensing needed for the captain and crew. After checking for proper documentation, Game Warden Barnard returned to the stern to measure the turtle excluder devices. Once completed, the captain and crew were issued citations for using power-drawn nets in closed waters and the shrimp on board were seized. A total of 553 pounds of shrimp were taken and sold at fair market value.

Georgia’s food shrimp harvest season opened on June 18 this year after data from CRD’s Ecological Monitoring Trawl Survey showed the fishery in May 2024 was producing higher numbers of shrimp over the 5-year average, although their sizes were negligibly smaller than shrimp from the same period.

“CRD’s trawl survey caught an average of 4.34 pounds of shrimp per 15-minute trawl,” said Tyler Jones, a spokesman for CRD. “This is about 20 percent more than the 2019 to 2024 average of 3.6 pounds. At the same time, in May it took 21.07 shrimp to make one pound, whereas over the past five-year average, it took 20.84. This means the shrimp were ever-so-slightly smaller, but we feel confident the fishery is ready to open based on the best available science.”

DNR reminds food shrimp harvesters to adhere to all regulations set forth to promote sustainable practices and protect shrimp stocks. These regulations include daily recreational catch limits, gear restrictions and other requirements. Licensed commercial trawlers with head rope lengths of 16 feet or greater are required to install a certified turtle excluder device and a certified bycatch reduction device.

Recreational food shrimp may only be harvested with seine nets or cast nets. A Georgia recreational fishing license and Saltwater Information Program (SIP) permit are required for the harvest of recreational food shrimp. Seine net harvesters may possess a maximum of 24 quarts of food shrimp with heads on per 24-hour period. Cast netters may possess a maximum of 48 quarts of food shrimp with heads on per 24 hour period. Further information on shrimping regulations can be found at ERegulations.com/Georgia/Fishing or by contacting DNR’s Law Enforcement Division at 912.264.7237.

McIntosh County: On July 7, 2024, Game Warden Tsiklistas received a complaint of someone shooting an alligator in a neighborhood in McIntosh County. The house was located, and after a brief interview, the subject admitted to shooting an alligator out of the marsh. The alligator was taken out of the neighborhood and dumped off the side of the road. The alligator was confiscated, and citations were issued.