Elderly Fisherman Busted With Undersized Conch

Pablo Castillo

An elderly Honduran fisherman was shocked when he was fined thirty dollars for each undersized conch he was caught with by Fisheries officials while he was in the area of Northern Fishermen Cooperatives on October seventh. Sixty-nine year old Pablo Castillo appeared in court this morning and pleaded guilty to the offense of the Possession of Undersized Conch. He was fined a total of one thousand seven hundred dollars plus for the offense as well as for each conch which weighed in at less than three ounces. It is Castillo’s first offense and he was hoping to be imposed the minimum fine. He told the court that when he caught the conch they appeared bigger, but when he cleaned them, they were actually smaller in size.  Fisheries Officer, Mark Gentle, was conducting a routine patrol on the north side of Belize City, when he saw Castillo, a fisherman he knew, unloading his catch at the pier.  When he made checks of his products, he found the conch to be undersized.