GLOUCESTER , MASS. (WHDH) - A fisherman in Gloucester was arrested last week after investigators discovered his 600-pound catch included dozens of illegal lobsters, police said.
Massachusetts Environmental Police officers conducting a joint operation with the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement identified a lobster fishing vessel that had been the subject of numerous complaints of illegal fishing in both state and federal waters, according to the department.
James Santapaolo Jr. was arrested around 3 p.m. on Friday as he pulled into Gloucester Harbor in a boat carrying five totes of lobsters.
Officers identified several violations, including 28 undersized lobsters, 16 mutilated lobsters, and three oversized lobsters, police said.
Santapaolo was taken to the Gloucester Police Department for processing.
The lobsters were returned to the waters off Massachusetts.
An investigation is ongoing.
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