Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents cited two Slidell residents for alleged commercial red snapper violations occurring over a one-year span in Plaquemines Parish.

Agents cited William Curry, 49, and Pamela Bertucci, 49, for four counts each of failing to maintain traceable records and failing to report commercial fish data.  Curry also received his third, fourth, and fifth offense for violating Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) regulations pertaining to the commercial harvest of red snapper.  Bertucci was also cited for injuring public records and filing false public records.

The charges stem from three separate fishing trips in 2022 and 2023 when Curry reported to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that he was landing an exact amount of red snapper while Bertucci filed state trip tickets with LDWF claiming it was a true and correct amount.

LDWF agents working a Joint Enforcement Agreement with NOAA weighed Curry’s red snapper catch that were in some instances several hundreds pounds off from the weight reported to both NOAA and LDWF.  These red snapper went undocumented and were not removed from the yearly quota allotted to Curry to fish in a given year.

A total of 1,268 pounds of red snapper were found not included in weight reported to NOAA and LDWF.

Each offense for failing to maintain records and failing to report commercial fish data carries up to a $500 fine and 90 days in jail.  In addition to any other penalty, for a second or subsequent violation of the aforementioned charges, the penalty imposed may include revocation of the permit or license under which the violation occurred for the period for which it was issued and barring the issuance of another permit or license for that same period.

The IFQ violations will be forwarded to NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement.  The record charges will be forwarded to the District Attorney of Plaquemines Parish and the injuring public records charges will be forwarded to the East Baton Rouge District Attorney for prosecution.

Participating agents in this case are Lt. Adam Young, Sgt. Jason Gernados, Corporal Austin Landry, Corporal Blaine Wagner, Agent Heather Fitzgerald and Agent Josh Schilling.