08/23/2026
A guy from Oklahoma was just arrested in the Florida Keys for having six queen conch. This is why this species is threatened and on the way to being endangered.
📸 Monroe County Sheriff’s Office
08/23/2026 A guy from Oklahoma was just arrested…
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When I was in a keys, they had those things all over the d*** place.The restaurants are the only ones that get to enjoy.Because I get money off of it , it's all about money
I understand the severity, but over fishing isn't what's going to destroy humanity and everything anyways. Humans and their need to constantly have wars, will do much more harm.
In meantime while this guy poses with few snails harvested by an uneducated torist that spent thousands on trip to keys an outboard is being unbolted from someone's boat and soon be on its way to Miami.
Yup Just like the red snapper. Except you can't drag a bare bait less hook through the water without catching one. Government always swings their pendulum too far from one side to the other with their conservancies . Most of the time, commercial overfishing creates a problem but then every single citizen has to pay the price.
They waited on the shore for me to finish snorkeling to check my finds to be sure they were empty! Boaters are out here hitting turtles 🐢 and doing terrible things on the water and they worry about a few conchs?
That’s funny they look empty to me. Plus I’ve been to the florida keys and there are restaurants that serve conch as a sandwich, soup, or fried with fries. So if they were so endangered then why aren’t those businesses shut down?
Sandy Davis · Good job!
They’re not becoming endangered bc of one guy from Oklahoma. They’re endangered bc of the over fishing and pollution that the government ALLOWS PRIVATE BUSINESS TO CONDUCT.
Men go crazy over the conch 🙄 Doesn’t matter what kind. 😂 And this dude looks like his definition of “conch” includes 🍆🍌🌭 and anything else shaped close enough. 💀😂
Now they tell you , it's illegal used to have one of those shells , put your ear to it , and you can hear the ocean
Endangered in Florida for several reasons: Intense over-harvesting. Commercial dredging and diving wiped out the Florida Keys population long before protections arrived. Slow recovery cycle. Conchs take 3 to 5 years to reach maturity and must gather in large groups to mate. Altered habitat. Coastal development, poor water quality, and seagrass loss in South Florida hinder natural recovery. Lack of vast shallow banks. The expansive shallow waters of the Bahamian platform provide massive nurseries and adult feeding grounds. Despite the protections, Queen Conch populations have failed to recover.
Argh. But you know a small amount of meat and a pretty shell right? I kindly asked a couple to return a few they were walking away with when I was in the keys a few years ago, explaining why. They actually did. I was happy they understood. But it makes me wonder how often people just take take take them. For every one poacher that gets caught, so many do not. Very infuriating.
Shame they don't police Sanibel Lighthouse more. There are people that sit it the water for hours digging up conch shells. They take the live ones, even though they aren't supposed to. Saw a couple with a cooler full of them. Maybe they were going to eat them. Idk but such a shame.
I’m all about fish regulations myself people getting in trouble for this or keeping a Fish Quarter inch too small or tobig but yet you guys spray and kill every freshwater aquatic waterway and that all runs out there as well do make that make sense. I think you guys allow and do way more damage. Just saying and no I don’t agree with that guy taking the shells either as I said, I’m all about fishing regulations
Oh my gawd that’s what cops are doing down there? Man I feel so much safer. Also that officer should get a shirt about 4 sizes bigger
I feel bad for people who like to pick up shells and don't know this law. Maybe give warnings first or post this information in clear view? Not everyone knows this is a law.
How the hell do you sex one of those. Im sure he thought it was a shell and wanted souvenirs First fish tank. Guess he learned the hard way
These women have a crush on you officer. Handcuffs are necessary in bed 😂
I found one on the ocean floor…I was in the Cayman Islands snorkeling, and it was time to board. I saw it like 15 ft below, so dove down to grab it real quick. Showed the tour guides . They actually busted it open (carefully) and fed us the conch raw. Soooo I guess it was ok. I didn’t do it lol. They gave me the shell and said take it home. Nothing in it. 🤷🏻♀️. Btw. It was sweet. It wasn’t salty. Sweet rubbery. I mean I’m sure Gordon Ramsay would approve.
· I left Walmart today without paying for the corn dog I grabbed mid-shop. Please send Mr Officer to arrest me ( But, if he’s not the cop on duty… I’m totally making this up)
I remember going conching in Marathon as a kid in the 70’s…we had a boat pull us at idle speed while snorkeling until we saw one…still remember my mom running all that conch meat through a meat grinder…times are no longer the same and never will be again
’m scratching and sniffing my phone screen and is not because of the conch! It smell like fish tho lol
I in no way am advocating poaching, and overfishing greatly hurt the population, but queen conchs in Florida face far greater problems than poaching now. The ban has been in place for 40 years, yet the population hasn't recovered. Larger, but harder to swallow issues are preventing a rebound.
Looks kinda like 5 queens and a milk. And reverse the terms. It’s why they are endangered and slowing there way to being threatened. Recovery of queen conchs is going good.
Bonnie Dugger · If the shells are empty you can’t take them? Asking because I completely get it if they are occupied by marine life.
I found a queen conch near Madeira Beach. I stepped on it walking up to an island that we parked the boat at. Glad I put it back down
But do you have any other angles of this guy in his shirt? The people want more data.
And this is the officer in the photo, not the offender, right?
The last few years I've snorkeled in Islamorada, I've seen many more and last year snorkeling off of Jupiter, I saw so many! It was encouraging!
Don't ask me anything about the shells, because what shells😂
In Florida, possessing or harvesting six live queen conchs is a second-degree misdemeanor. A conviction carries a standard statutory fine of $500, alongside a potential jail sentence of up to 60 days and up to six months of probation
What is it? A shell? Lots of people have shells they collect - I’ve know people put a whole shell theme in their bathrooms. How would you know if the shell is allowed to have?
Hypothetically speaking I stole the six Queen Conchs and I was absolutely hoping that I would be the 7th.. I mean for putting the law to the test 🙄😏
Officer, give your little brother his shirt back.
My dad always said: never mess with FWC! They don’t give warnings
Did they still have the man inside? Or were they empty?
My pregnant fog brain read sex with queen conchs and I ran to the comments so quick 🤣
Only thing in danger of going extinct in this photo are XS t-shirts
I thought that was a grill at 1st glance
So why do we still have access to Conch chowder? 🤔
Why are the Bahamas littered with them? Why don't they thrive here like over there?
There are shells in this photo?
Hypothetically speaking, would i be guaranteed to be arrested by this man, if i commit a minor crime in Monroe County?