8 Fishermen Busted With Conch Before Season Opened

A group of fishermen harvested a lot of conch earlier in the week, but the conch season had not yet opened and so they were nabbed by the Fisheries Department. Of the eight fishermen, four are members of the Tun family from Chunox who earlier this year, had to pay a huge fine of almost twenty thousand dollars for fisheries offenses. This evening, the Fisheries Department escorted the group to the Belize City Magistrate’s Court. They are Demerrel Tun, Eli Tun, Roger Linarez, and Edgar Tun, who were found onboard the Sianely, near the Mauger Caye in the Turneffe Atoll area with about seven hundred and ninety conchs.  They all pleaded guilty to the charge of Possession of Conch in the closed season when they appeared before Magistrate Deborah Rogers.  The fishermen were fined total of seventeen thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars which they must pay by January 15, 2016. The second group of men to be arraigned includes Natan Rayundo, Christian Flores, Ovaldo Flores, and Amir Adair Tamai. The four also pleaded guilty to the offense of possession of conch in the closed season. Jointly, they paid four thousand and seventy-five dollars for one hundred and fifty-one conch. They will have to pay their fines by January sixteenth, 2016.