Coast Guard SPI nets 1,650 pounds of illegally caught red snapper in April

The Coast Guard seized 350 pounds of illegally caught red snapper from Mexican fishermen on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard)

Boat crews with Coast Guard Station South Padre Island and air crews with Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi have been busy in April.

In all, authorities have reported seizing 1,650 pounds of illegally caught red snapper from Mexican fishermen this month and brought federal charges against one lancha captain who tried to outrun them to the safety of Mexican waters.

The latest seizure was on Thursday.

In a news release, the Coast Guard said boat crews from South Padre Island and air crews from Corpus Christi located and stopped for Mexican fishermen north of the Maritime Boundary Line.

“After interdicting the lanchas, Coast Guard personnel seized 350 pounds of red snapper, along with fishing gear and highflyers on board the vessels,” the release stated. “Coast Guard crews detained the men, brought them ashore and transferred the detainees to U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel for further processing.”

The red snapper was donated to the Harte Institute to support illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing research and to Sea Turtle Inc. to help feed and rehabilitate sea turtles, according to the release.

On April 16, the Coast Guard seized 440 pounds of illegally caught red snapper and a shark. On April 9, personnel seized 460 pounds of red snapper and another 400 pounds on April 4.

In March, the Coast Guard reported seizing 1,250 pounds of illegally caught red snapper.

In all of those cases, the Coast Guard said in news releases that the crews consisted of four fishermen who were turned over to CBP.

That wasn’t the case for Matamoros resident David Fernandez Beatriz, who was born in 1997.

The Coast Guard seized 350 pounds of illegally caught red snapper from Mexican fishermen on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard)

The Coast Guard charged him in Brownsville federal court for forcibly resisting, opposing, preventing, impeding, intimidating or interfering with a boarding or other law enforcement action.

“On April 20, 2024, at approximately 3:30 a.m. a U.S. Coast Guard vessel attempted to stop an unlit, Mexican fishing lancha suspected of illegally fishing in U.S. waters 19 miles north of the Maritime Boundary Line,” a criminal complaint stated. “The U.S. Coast Guard vessel activated their blue lights, sirens, and loud hailer to order the lancha to stop.”

Fernandez, the lancha’s captain, didn’t stop and made evasive maneuvers, according to the complaint.

“About 6 minutes into the pursuit, both vessels hit a 7 foot swell which caused Fernandez Beatriz to lose his grip on the tiller and fall within the lancha,” the complaint stated. “The pursuit lasted … about 7 minutes and ended about 13 miles North of the Maritime Border Line.”

The Coast Guard then boarded the lancha and took Fernandez and the crew into custody.

“David Fernandez Beatriz stated he did not stop the lancha … because he thought he could make it back home,” the complaint stated.

He made a first appearance in Brownsville federal court on April 22 in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Betancourt who ordered him temporarily held without bond pending a detention hearing, which is scheduled for May 1.

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