Two high profile cases of thieves stealing from lobster traps have been in the news recently. In an Upper Keys case, a father and son were quickly convicted, and will be sentenced in August. The Key West case was not quite so clear, and involved two native Conchs, Harry Bethel, and Larry Pinder, and a third man Shamus Davis. The three were supposedly seen pulling someone else’s trap by a Fish and Wildlife pilot flying at somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 feet. After a hung first trial, in which all jurors reportedly voted for acquittal except one, the 3 were convicted in a second trial.
As captain, and member of a high profile Key West family, Harry Bethel received both the notoriety, and the harshest sentence. The three were convicted on a single act of trap pulling, and Bethel was sentenced to 5 years in prison, and a lifetime ban from commercial fishing. Fishermen and pundits throughout the Keys rejoiced at the conviction and the harsh sentence, but the real facts in the case make the decision of the jury highly questionable.
No one in commercial fishing is more vulnerable to thievery than those who work lobster traps. The traps are exposed for a minimum of 7 days between pulls, and virtually anyone with a boat is capable of stealing the lobster. Some traps are robbed by divers, and others hand pulled by recreational people looking for a lobster dinner. Far and away however, the most damage is done by a handful of thieves with commercial fishing licenses.
Typically, the thief will have a smaller, faster boat with a trap puller, and possess a low number of trap certificates. Every fisherman, and every buyer, knows what catch level to expect out of a given fisherman with a given amount of traps, but even the worst fisherman can be in the right place at the right time, and out catch his peers on a given day. A true thief however, because he is working far more traps than he actually possesses, and only stealing in areas where lobster concentrations are the heaviest, will consistently outperform even the best fishermen on a catch per trap basis.
A thief will always exhibit certain clues that point to his dishonest ways. Most commonly, the trap robber will spread his few traps in as many areas as possible. A man with only 200 trap certificates, (compared to 1,500-2,000 for a legitimate full time fisherman) may for example, place a 20 trap line in 10 different areas. This is of course, no way to make money, but it gives the thief an excuse to be in the area. The robber himself, imagines the deception to be a perfect cover for his thievery, but for professional fishermen, the small number of traps is little more than a giant red flag.
Then too, even a thief must sell his catch somewhere. Unlike upper Keys fishermen who are constantly victimized by boats out of Miami, the hard core trap robber in Key West is too far from the limitless markets, and needs a more convenient place to unload his catch each day. Once again, the red flag goes up when it is noticed that a relatively small time fisherman consistently produces catches out of line with his number of traps and professional experience.
Also, if it was ever true that there is ‘honor among thieves’, it doesn’t extend to the lobster business. Thieves, presumably never work alone. The most effective thieves will work with a 3 man crew, so one can be the constant lookout. The lowlife ‘fishermen’ who will steal from others, will also turn on their own partners in crime, and confirmation of their robbing ways eventually comes from loose lipped mates. In the world of commercial fishing, a thief may remain anonymous for a while, but soon enough all fishermen know who the robbers are. With Harry Bethel, there was no thought of him being a thief, until the pilot accused him of robbing traps.
Though fishermen may be able to identify a thief, they also recognize that it is virtually impossible to catch someone in the act of trap robbing. No thief is going to allow another boat close enough to make a positive float identification, and the criminals are always on the lookout for airplane surveillance. Law enforcement is as frustrated as the fishermen over the difficulty of apprehending trap robbers. They have given it their best effort, but except for the apprehension of a handful of careless thieves, they have been unable to help the law abiding fishermen.
As far back as the 1950’s my father attempted to deal with thieves by using the law. With the help of the only ‘conservation agent’ in the Keys, he put a paint mark on the underside of 100 large lobsters, and left them in the traps. The following day when the suspected thieves arrived at the dock, they were found to have all 100 lobsters on their boat. Dad’s perfect bust was thwarted however, when a judge who had a connection to the thief’s family, immediately ruled that the lobsters could have crawled out of Dad’s traps, and into those of the defendant. Disgusted with the legal method, Dad then took care of the problem in his own way.
In the early 1980’s, I was similarly plagued by thieves. In frustration, I would rent a plane on my days in, and patrol my own traps. My presence in the plane definitely made a difference, but though I spotted several suspicious boats, I never came close to catching anyone in the act. The flights made me feel as if I was doing something, but the reduced thievery was offset by the cost of the plane, and the loss of rest days.
Historically then, trappers have had to deal with thievery on their own. The most common method of dealing with thieves, has been to cut away their few traps so they have no excuse to be in an area. Over the years we have seen thieves dealt with in many other home grown punishments, including boats being sunk, traps burned on shore, and severe physical thrashings. Some thieves have been forcibly run out of town, and others have simply left after accusations and threats exposed their thieving ways. There have also been many highly creative punishments to discourage thieves, most of which can’t be discussed publicly.
The frustration and anger that builds from continuously being robbed can often be extreme. A fisherman works on his traps year round. Each trap is a product of the individual’s handiwork, and every fisherman can identify certain construction characteristics that mark it as his. Every trap is a product of his toil and sweat, and when a fisherman is robbed of the reward for his hard work, a fury builds that is often unreasonable, and even uncontrollable.
When I was being robbed the worst, I was fishing relatively alone in an area known as ‘No Man’s Land’, about a 2 hour run from Key West. I reached the area at daybreak on a hazy morning, and spotted a boat that appeared to be working my traps. When I started at full speed towards the unknown boat, he turned and took off in the opposite direction. It was obvious that he had spotted me, and we were then in a boat race. The Ocean Motion was slightly faster than the thief’s boat, and I slowly gained ground.
As I drew closer, I was certain that I had never seen the boat before, and it definitely did not have a reason to be working traps in my area. My anger grew with each minute of the chase. I took out my AR-15, semi-automatic rifle, and made up my mind that I was going to fill his boat with holes. I certainly was not going to shoot anyone, but I was crazed enough to want to send the fear of death into the thief, regardless of the consequences.
Suddenly, the boat came to a halt about half a mile away, and started pulling a trap. I was perplexed by the action, and slowed to take a better look. In an ‘Oh my God’ moment, I realized the situation. The boat was a new one that had just been launched, and I had known the fisherman for many years. His character was beyond question, and I was absolutely certain that he would never touch anyone’s traps, much less mine. Completely embarrassed by my impulsive action, I put the rifle away for good, and told my puzzled, wide eyed mate, that we needed to get started on pulling our traps.
Today the thieves carry on their loathsome tradition with my son Lucas. Each time he is robbed, he is overcome by the same unreasonable rage that Dad and I felt. As much as I empathize, I fear for the day that he actually catches someone pulling his traps. My father tried to calm me with humor –“The banditos have got to eat too” – but I don’t think that would work any better with Lucas than it did with me.
The point of my stories is; no one detests trap robbers more than I do. I think they should all receive the maximum penalty, and I don’t favor redemption, since I believe they should always be banned for life from commercial fishing. With that said, let me state that I strongly believe Harry Bethel is innocent. I have told myself repeatedly that the law has taken its course, and I should just keep my mouth shut on the issue. Yet, I feel so strongly that he has been wrongly convicted, that I cannot remain silent.
From the beginning he was tried and found guilty by the press. The stories were reported in the newspaper as if he had been caught red-handed by the airplane, and it was an open and shut case. Because of the press accounts, several businesses even put up posters of his face, and identified him as a trap thief. With all the negative publicity, every fisherman who was robbed between Summerland Key and Marquesas, understandably pointed the finger at Harry Bethel. What we had in effect was a modern day lynching.
As the owner of Stock Island Lobster Co. – the fish house where Bethel has worked since becoming a fisherman some 5 years ago – I have had full access to all of his catch records. With 40 years of experience in running a fish house, I can vouch for the fact that his entire catch history falls within the normal learning curve of new fishermen. Unusually high catches for an inexperienced fisherman are quickly noticed by both the fish house and other fishermen, and point a finger towards someone who is pulling traps besides their own. The amount of his catch, based on his number of traps and inexperience, has always been what would be expected of a relative newcomer.
The paltry amount of lobster he was apprehended with is also a strong indicator of innocence. A fisherman will pull his own empty traps all day long to clean and bait them, but thieves never pull traps without lobster in them. Every fisherman knows when even a single trap has been pulled, and it is an indisputable fact that thieves only steal in the areas where there are lobsters in the traps. It would be a pretty sorry bandito that only has 28 lobsters by 3:00 in the afternoon. In other words, his entire catch profile falls so far outside the pattern of a trap robber, that it dramatically points to his innocence.
I am most persuaded of their innocence however, by my personal experience with trap identification on the ocean. When in an area with other trap lines, there is not a fisherman alive who does not pull up on the wrong trap in the course of a normal day. Many float colors and combinations look so similar – the more so after they have been in the water awhile – that they are virtually indistinguishable until one is right on top of the trap. If fishermen have trouble from 50’ away, how certain can a pilot be from thousands of feet away.
Then too, my own experience with patrolling traps from the air also convinces me the pilot is mistaken. I certainly do not question his veracity, but positively identifying a particular float from thousands of feet in the air, and then never once losing site of it in a sea full of similar buoys until a patrol boat arrives, would be an incredible feat. A single 6” lobster trap buoy from several thousand feet in the air, is an incredibly tiny speck, especially when lost among a half dozen trap lines of similar floats.
The pilot says he kept his eyes on the particular buoy with binoculars, but anyone who has used them in a boat or small plane, understands that the magnification makes continuous sight just that much more difficult. Even a normal blink can affect the line of sight, much less removing the binoculars for a second to check an airplane’s instrument panel, and then having the eyes refocus. The sincerity of the pilot’s testimony notwithstanding, the margin for error is so high, that every honest fisherman should be greatly concerned about being viewed in a similar situation.
All of my experience with Harry Bethel has been on a business level, and I cannot speak to his true character, except to say that he has been straight with me from the beginning, and he placed a high value on his newfound fishing career. Some say he is a contentious person, and he has received some notoriety from another highly publicized case unrelated to fishing. I can however say, that in a lifetime of fishing experience, native Conchs like Bethel and Pinder, have proven to be very solicitous of both their heritage, and their standing among their peers. It is only a personal opinion, but it seems unthinkable that not just one, but two native sons, would risk their reputations, their family respect, and a lifetime of condemnation, for a handful of lobster.
I readily admit that I only know what I have read in the newspaper, and have little knowledge of how the trial proceeded. I do however believe, that this is far from an open and shut case. Despite the jury’s verdict, their true guilt remains highly questionable, not only with myself, but many knowledgeable fishermen. For such a serious charge, and such a harsh sentence, the evidence should have been indisputable, and there never should have been a second trial after a hung jury on the first. Had they been tried on the evidence by a jury of lobster fishermen, I believe they would have been found innocent, and it is my hope that they are exonerated with their legal appeal.
