REDONDO BEACH, Calif., Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Game wardens arrested five men in California for allegedly illegally harvesting 132 lobsters in Redondo Beach, state wildlife officials say.
Patrick Foy, a warden with the California Department of Fish and Game, said Friday authorities witnessed five men driving into the water along the King Harbor Jetty and pulling out the lobsters early Sept. 29, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Game wardens stopped the men after they attempted to drive off with the lobsters in a pickup truck.
Ramon Gonzalo Montes, 28, Omar De Leon Aguilar, 26, and Juan Manuel De Leon Haro, 34, all from Los Angeles, and Augustin Granados, 67, and Ruben Flores, Jr., 38, both of South Gate, were arrested.
Many of the lobsters recovered were shorter than the size limit. Spiny lobsters cannot legally be harvested until Oct. 1, after which there is a limit of seven lobsters per person.
Authorities seized the men's gear as evidence and the lobsters were returned to the ocean.
Game wardens have issued more than 100 citations for sponge lobster poaching since the season opened, "but nowhere has the poaching pressure been greater than Redondo Beach," the Department of Fish and Game said in a statement.
