Florida Keys commercial fisherman is sentenced to jail on lobster charges
A Monroe County judge sentenced a Florida Keys commercial fisherman to a month in jail Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to 30 lobster violations.
Raidel Alvarez Perez, 52, pleaded guilty to 16 counts of possessing wrung lobster tails while on the water and seven counts of possessing undersized spiny lobster.
All spiny lobsters caught must be brought back to shore whole, according to Florida law
Perez was arrested on March 22, 2025, during what began as a routine resource check by two Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers near Woman Key, located nine miles west of Key West, according to his arrest report.
Perez was a mate aboard a 40-foot commercial lobster boat. When the officers turned on their boat’s blue flashing lights to signal the commercial vessel to stop, someone threw a red bucket overboard, according to the report.
While one officer boarded the commercial boat, the other turned around to retrieve the bucket. That officer found between “15 and 20” wrung tails in the bucket, the report states.
Seven undersized lobsters were found on the commercial vessel, according to the report. The carapace of a spiny lobster (the part that is not the tail) must be greater than three inches long to be legal size. If the tail is separated, it must be longer than five and a half inches, according to Florida law.
Officers interviewed the captain of the boat and another mate. The captain said he had no knowledge of what the mates caught because he only operates the vessel while the crew works the traps in the stern, or back, of the vessel, the report states.
The other mate denied knowledge of the undersized lobsters and wrung tails, and the FWC said Perez was the one in possession of the lobsters found on the boat, according to the report.
Judge Albert Kelley sentenced Perez to 30 days in jail for each count, ordered to be served concurrently. Kelley also sentenced Perez to six months of probation, ordered him to take an FWC course and pay a $2,838 fine, according to the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office.
Florida lobster season runs annually from Aug. 6 through March 31. Spiny lobster, which do not have claws like their Maine relatives, are considered a delicacy regionally and as far away as Asia, where much of the local catch is shipped.
“These laws are designed to protect one of the Florida Keys’ most important natural resources and preserve the long-term sustainability of our fisheries. Illegal harvesting practices threaten conservation efforts and undermine the many commercial fishermen who follow the law every day,” Chief Assistant State Attorney Joseph Mansfield said in a statement Thursday.
This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 11:40 AM with the headline "Florida Keys commercial fisherman is sentenced to jail on lobster charges."
