Monitoring of the Reef Balls 800 Feet Deep Reveals illegal trawling

Although the Oculina Banks are closed to any fishing, monitoring reveled that some of the newly planted Reef Balls have moved, rolled and been entangled in fishing gear, a clear indication of illegal trawling activities. A majority of the pirate fishing occurs at night which makes enforcement difficult. Worse yet, the penalty is weak (merely the seizure of the catch on board) and is hardly a strong disincentive.