Game Wardens Raid Suspected Abalone Poachers In Bay Area, Sacramento
OAKLAND (CBS / AP) -- Thirteen people are under arrest on suspicion of being part of an abalone poaching network after fish and game wardens served search warrants on 14 locations.
More than 100 Department of Fish and Wildlife game wardens served the warrants on Thursday.
Lt. Patrick Foy said 13 of 14 suspects are in custody after arrests throughout Northern California in Oakland, San Leandro, Fairfield, Alameda and Sacramento.
Collecting abalone is legal, but divers must be licensed and are limited to 24 of the mollusks a season, and three a day. Divers track their catches on an abalone report card.
Foy said one suspect took 57 abalones in a season, most collected from the waters off Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
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