Department of Justice
United State Attorney
- Southern District of Florida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Apr. 27, 2006

Florida-Based Winn-Dixie Supermarket Chain Charged with Illegal Possession
and Sale of Undersized Lobster

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Hal Robbins, Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, Southern Region, and Major Andy Love, Northeast Regional Commander, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, announced today that defendant, Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., a Jacksonville-based supermarket chain, was charged in Miami federal District Court in connection with its illegal possession, transportation, and sale of undersized spiny lobster (Panulirus argus), contrary to the laws and regulations of the State of Florida, all in violation of the federal Lacey Act, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372 and 3373.

Winn-Dixie faces a possible criminal fine of the greater of $200,000 or twice the gain or loss from its relevant conduct on the single count of the criminal Information and a possible term of probation of up to five (5) years. The case has been assigned to United States District Court Judge Paul C. Huck. Further court proceedings in the matter have not yet been scheduled.

According to the Information, on or about October 29, 2002, at Miami and elsewhere, Winn-Dixie engaged in transactions involving spiny lobster, when in the exercise of due care it should have known that the transactions were unlawful under prevailing Florida law.

Spiny lobsters, which occur in ocean waters ranging from Brazil to Florida, are a significant economic resource for both commercial and non-commercial harvesters. To insure that spiny lobsters are not extirpated or driven to extinction over part or all of their range, from over-fishing and collapse of the species by loss of the reproductive stock, many jurisdictions in which the species occur have enacted conservation measures, involving the imposition of size and/or weight limits. Lobster must reach a certain size and age before they are able to reproduce. Harvesting of the specie in quantity before that size is reached can cause the stocks to “crash” and lead to extinction. The State of Florida has established, by statute and regulation, a legal minimum tail length of 5.5 inches, a standard that scientifically equates to a tail weight of 5 ounces.

The federal Lacey Act, originally proposed by Iowa Congressman John Lacey, was enacted by Congress, and amended over the intervening years, to provide for the preservation of wildlife, prevention of the introduction of nuisance species, and to supplement the enforcement of state, tribal, and foreign conservation laws and treaties by allowing for federal authorities to give effect to the conservation efforts of other sovereigns.

Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement and the Investigators of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Watts-FitzGerald.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.