A Sunday morning of fishing in the Florida Keys turned into a legal headache for a Miami Gardens man caught with a bucket full of illegal fish, according to teh Monroe County SHeriff’s Office.
At around 7 a.m. on March 29, 2026, Islamorada Marine Deputy Jason Farr was patrolling the area near Whale Harbor Bridge when he spotted Onays Sandoval Gonzalez, 40, fishing along the water.
Upon closer inspection, Deputy Farr discovered that Gonzalez had managed to land eight mangrove snapper. However, the catch was far from legal.
Out of the eight fish in his possession, seven failed to meet the state’s minimum size requirements. To make matters worse, authorities determined that Gonzalez was also fishing with an expired license.
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Because Florida law strictly regulates both the size and the number of snapper a person can keep to protect local populations, Gonzalez was hit with a triple threat of violations.
Deputy Farr issued him a mandatory notice to appear in court for three specific charges: possession of an undersized catch, exceeding the daily bag limit for mangrove snapper, and operating with an out-of-date fishing license.
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