Keys man gets prison for illegal lobster harvest

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jar546

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KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - A Florida Keys man has been sentenced to more than a year in federal prison for illegally harvesting spiny lobsters from artificial underwater habitats.


The 16-month sentence was imposed Wednesday on 40-year-old Manuel Ravelo Jr. of Big Coppitt Key. Ravelo had earlier pleaded guilty to illegally harvesting lobsters from about August 2007 to March 2009.


As part of his plea, Ravelo removed 200 artificial lobster habitat sites he had used in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It's illegal to use artificial habitat to harvest spiny lobsters and it's also illegal to alter the seabed of the Keys marine sanctuary. The sanctuary covers some 2,800 square miles.


Authorities say Ravelo made about $390,000 in the scheme, which also involved two wholesale lobster dealers.
Keys man gets prison for illegal lobster harvest - Fox29 WFLX TV, West Palm Beach, Florida-
 
Good!!
 
very busy guy. Seems like a long time in jail. Looks like he got greedy and when he found out how effective the habitats were he made a ton of them. Are lobster habitats less destructive than the wooden traps with concrete bottoms currently legally in use? I think so. In a tropical storm those concrete lined lobster traps which weigh like 70# when fully water logged "walk" their way ashore pounding the coral flat as they go. After hurricanes some end up on the roadway. The rough water conditions in the near shore shallow waters with the pull of the buoys and lines hop up and down all over the bottom. Just my two cents.
 
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