The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Division of Law Enforcement Weekly Report from Sept. 1 - Sept. 7 includes incidents in the Lake Okeechobee area. This report represents some events the FWC handled over specified weeks; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement.

Okeechobee County
Investigator Ervin and Officer Allen received a complaint regarding a subject bowhunting during the closed season in the Starvation Slough Unit of the Kissimmee River Public Use Area. After arriving at the public use area, four subjects dressed in camouflage and equipped with bows and arrows were detained. The subjects admitted they were hunting wild hogs during the closed season in Starvation Slough. The subjects were issued notices to appear in court for the violation.

Hendry County
Officers Naules and Riggs observed a group of people along a canal bank with a bucket of fish and a cast net nearby. When the officers initiated a resource inspection, they noticed the cast net was missing and there was several freshwater game fish in the bucket. There was no other fishing equipment in the group’s possession. Cast nets are an illegal method for taking freshwater game fish. The officers located the cast net hidden nearby, and the group admitted they were all fishing. The subjects were charged with possession of game fish together with any device that is prohibited for taking such game fish.