They caught small, out-of-season lobster. Their next excursion will be with a judge.

One Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputy was kept busy enforcing fishing conservation laws Sunday in the Upper Florida Keys.

While patrolling near Long Key Bridge, Deputy Wilfredo Guerra cited one man, Edgar Diaz, 19, for out-of-season lobsters and spearing an out-of-season and undersized snook.

Diaz's companion, Bryon Gonzalez, also 19, was cited for possession of undersized lobsters, which are also out of season.

Both men are from Miami. The snook and five lobsters were in a cooler, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Adam Linhardt.

Lobster season runs from Aug. 6 through March 31. The carapice, or non-tail part of the lobster, must be at least three inches long and the lobster must be measured in the water. Spearing lobster is illegal, and it is illegal to spear fish in the Upper Keys from Long Key north to the Miami-Dade County line.

The law is in effect three miles from the nearest point of land on the Atlantic Ocean side of the Keys and nine miles from the nearest point of land on the Florida Bay side of the island chain, Linhardt said.

Snook has two harvest per year — from Dec. 15 to Jan. 31 and from June 1 to Aug. 31. Snook is also what is known as a slot fish. That means that they not only can't be undersized — less than 28 inches — but anglers also must not keep a snook measuring more than 33 inches.

Also on Sunday, Guerra cited Greggy Darnell Belton, 36, also from Miami, for keeping 14 undersized mangrove snappers while fishing near the Channel Five Bridge, Linhardt said. The bag limit on mangrove snappers is five per person, but they have to be at least 10 inches. None of his were.

Belton also was cited for keeping too many yellowtail snapper and possession of an undersized schoolmaster snapper, Linhardt wrote in his press release.

This story was originally published April 30, 2018 at 8:54 PM with the headline "They caught small, out-of-season lobster. Their next excursion will be with a judge.."