A 33-year-old, San Diego, CA lobster fisherman has learned that stuffing live lobsters in his pants could turn around to bite him in the rear, so to speak.
Binh Quang Chau, who had already been cited twice and arrested once in a single month for illegally poaching lobsters, tried to smuggle half a dozen of the tasty crustaceans taken from the La Jolla State Marine Conservation Area, by stuffing them in his trousers, according to California Department of Fish and Game authorities.
When DFG wardens arrested Chau for illegally fishing in the conservation area, they also noticed the suspicious bulges in the front of his pants.
“That was kind of a different [situation] out there,” DFG warden Daryl Simmons told the San Diego Union-Tribue. Simmons was at the scene of all three of Chau’s previous arrests for fishing in off-limits areas.
Wardens retrieved the lobsters – which were wrapped in newspaper and still alive – and released them back in the conservation area. Chau, however, didn’t fare as well. After pleading guilty to all charges, he was held six days in a San Diego County jail.
His penalty in the “pinch” also included three years probation, a three-year suspension of all fishing privileges in state ocean waters, 13 days public-work service and a $500 fine.
