Man arrested for poaching 70 conch in marine park
(CNS): A Department of Environment conservation officer was injured by a suspected poacher when he arrested the man for taking conch from a marine park. The DoE said the man was arrested last week after he was found in possession of 70 conch poached from the Marine Protected Area in Barkers, West Bay. He can also expect to be charged with assault after he threw a large rock at the DoE Officer who arrested him.
The seized conch, which had already been removed from the shell, was donated to Meals on Wheels.
A second suspect has also been warned for intended prosecution, the DoE said, as a further investigation is in progress.
The public is reminded that while conch and lobster season is currently open, it is illegal to harvest conch or lobster from the Marine Reserves or Line Fishing Zones. A maximum of 5 conch per person or 10 conch per boat and 3 lobster per person or 6 per boat are allowed to be taken per day.
Lobster season ends 28 February and conch season ends 30 April. Download the ‘CaymanDoE’ app to see the rules for any location in the Cayman Islands or visit doe.ky/marine-parks for full rules and conditions.
Anyone with information relating to this latest poaching incident or to report suspicious activity in progress can contact the DoE on 916-4271.
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Category: Crime, Environment
Like everything else, God put them there for the taking. Just like the land, the plants, the animals and everything else. These environmental fascists just want to deny the bounty the Lord has provided.
Time to pull the plug on the Marine Research Unit. Shut it down and put the money into enforcement! Any political candidate who has this in their manifesto will get my vote.
Bad But they law enforcement is side. Even if call for dive bboatsin with bads of lobster tails they don’t come out.
Night divers trash. Never
So why report a local only
English MF, do you speak it?
Yes mate. Occasionally I do on weekends as well!
Cor. Fancy a wee pint.
No one has any idea what you are trying.
Lock up that criminal who clearly has not regard for our environment.
Locals raping the ocean wow
only one marine officer in East End working 9am-5pm. Poachers working 5am-9am then 5pm-7pm.
I went diving the other day and found over 150 conch shells in one spot just days old. Greedy sons of beaches killed every conch in that area just north of the Ridgefield wreak.
The department of environment need to better. One enforcement officer cant control such a large area in the comfort of his truck from shore.
Carl I know it’s only so much you can do but you can’t do it on your own.
The heads of department of environment needs to do better than what they are doing. East End needs more officers and more hours. 9-5 is a joke . and yes I am a East Ender.
Don’t buy or eat conch, lobster, turtle, whelk or grouper, or restaurants selling it. That way you know for sure you aren’t part of this poacher economy.
Restaurants buy from diver boats. All year too.
Everyone knows
Would be nice to know which restaurants are involved in the poaching. They certainly know who and what they are buying.
Every lobster-serving restaurant is buying the cheapest baby lobster tails they can from the Honduras boats and by the 100s. They chop the illegal 2.5” tails into chunks and freeze them. There’s a whole blood economy in Honduran lobster poaching. This is also what our dive operator tanks get stolen for. They’ve stripped their shallow reefs and are now diving deeper without decompression stops. Lots of death. Don’t support it.
He proclaims not guilty because he cannot count.
https://www.caymancompass.com/2025/02/12/mathematics-still-a-weak-spot-for-caymans-students/
If you have 70 conch, and you get caught by 1 DoE enforcement officer, how many years of prison will you get?
Unfortunately, we all know the answer, and you don’t need to be a mathematician to get it correct.
come to the east end…poaching everyday
More riff raff criminality!
#Caymankind
Not holding my breath…
Why are names not released. Will DOE and Cayman news service keep the readers up to date with names and charges. Not just on this case. The Turtle poachers news a couple weeks ago has gone dead. The last i saw was charges were pending. Not sure on whom they are pending. Did charges ever get laid. What were the charges.
CNS: I understand that charges will be laid in that case, but these things take time. We can’t publish the names if we don’t know them – and may not know them until they appear on a docket list. Generally, law enforcement agencies here don’t name suspects until they are charged.
Yet the police often publish the names of misplaced minor wards that aren’t guilty of any crimes, and persons of interest not yet charged.
10 years in prison. Next!
Agreed! It’s time to make an example out of poachers. Especially those who think it’s okay to assault marine officers. He should get 5 years for the assault alone.
only one marine officer in East End working 9am-5pm. Poachers working 5am-9am then 5pm-7pm.
I went diving the other day and found over 150 conch shells in one spot just days old. Greedy sons of beaches killed every conch in that area just north of the Ridgefield wreak.
The department of environment need to better. One enforcement officer cant control such a large area in the comfort of his truck from shore.
Carl I know it’s only so much you can do but you can’t do it on your own.
The heads of department of environment needs to do better than what they are doing. East End needs more officers and more hours. 9-5 is a joke . and yes I am a East Ender.
The East End poachers are wild and dangerous!