Redondo poacher caught with lobster down his pants

Can you imagine one of these down your pants? A Redondo poacher was caught doing just that recently. Photo- Promar Nets

People go to great lengths to hide the illegal taking of lobster but one man in Redondo Beach may have taken the cake. California Department of Fish and GameWarden Michele Budish recently caught a man who hid a lobster in his pants. “We observed the suspect for some time, followed him on a bus and then observed him taking a lobster out of his pants and passing it off to the occupants of a car,” said Budish.

Budish and Warden Kory Collins recently busted 5 poachers in Redondo Beach for taking 132 lobster 2 days before the 2011 season has opened. The Wardens say that attempts at concealing lobster is nothing new. “We’ve seen lobster hidden in gas cans, under the hood of a car, in baby strollers and in diapers. “One of the most common tactics we see is parents handing lobster off to their kids. The kids are then directed to take the illegal bug to a nearby car and hide it so that when the poachers leave the scene of the crime, they are clean.

The biggest violation by far is still fishing without a license. You must have a license and a lobster report card to fish for lobster unless you are fishing from a pier. You do not need a fishing license to fish from a pier but you still need a lobster report card.

The Wardens get their best intel through observation. “We can watch suspects hide lobster, take over their limits and then move in to question them,” said Collins. “We are here to protect the resource and make sure that there are plenty for a long time to come,” said Budish.

Regarding the man with the lobster down his pants, we have heard all the jokes. In a Facebook post, Christina Ho asked, "Is that a lobster in your pants or are you just happy to see me?" Pete Thomas from Pete Thomas Outdoors says that the poacher should be glad it wasn’t a main lobster. A lobster with two powerful claws down your pants; not a good idea.

Comments

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Okay... well, wow. The pants area can be used to hide items and contraband. A bit of creativity can help conceal things there, but having live animals in there, especially a lobster, would be pretty dangerous.

Posted by: Fernando Severns | 12/16/2011 at 06:58 AM

LOL You are so right Fernando. Very dangerous indeed.

Posted by: Philip Friedman | 12/16/2011 at 09:15 AM

I can't even imagine what that would be like. Some people will go to great lengths to get something, including lobster it seems. You can't help but wonder what people are thinking, especially when they have their kids help them.

Posted by: Boat Captains License | 12/29/2011 at 05:45 AM