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Two Lobster Trappers Convicted
The men could face four years in prison and $7,000 in fines each.
7th February 2003
By Kishan Kumar Putta
LATimes Staff Writer
A petty officer in the Navy and another man have been convicted of illegally trapping dozens of undersized lobsters and chopping up garibaldi, the official and protected California state saltwater fish, for bait.
In addition to being convicted by a jury last Friday in Avalon Municipal Court, Michael Lee Brydge and Timothy Norris pleaded guilty to ripping the tails off 63 lobsters, thus making it impossible for authorities to determine if they were of legal size.
The incident happened in January 2000 in a restricted naval zone near San Clemente Island, 70 miles northwest of San Diego. Brydge, the petty officer, and Norris, a former chief petty officer, face up to four years in jail and $7,000 in fines each, Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Frisco said Wednesday. The men are scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 27.
Frisco said that, although individually the violations may not seem particularly egregious, "in aggregate, they show a flagrant disregard for private property and for environmental law."
He said that naval officers in the area have long been suspected of stealing traps from legitimate commercial fishermen and using them to catch and stockpile lobsters for food or profit.
San Diego attorney William McGuigan, who is representing both men in the matter, said fishermen, not his clients, planted the lobster traps in restricted waters.
He said that his clients simply removed the traps. Naval personnel had been ordered to keep the waters around San Clemente clear, and that included removing traps, he said.
McGuigan said that although they should not have removed the lobsters, "it is my hope that the judge will realize this was an unusual one-time incident."
"My clients have already lost thousands of dollars dealing with this," McGuigan said.
"They will probably never even eat another lobster again," he added.
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