Here’s a different kind of fish tale, one with a bad start, but a surprise ending.
On May 9, 2020, Henry Danzig, who lives in Tavernier on Key Largo, was coming back from a fishing trip in the Bahamas with his son and three friends on his 39-foot Contender, Bodacious.
The Coast Guard boarded the boat and busted him. Danzig, 56, an advisor at Morgan Stanley and co-owner of a small diner, had 167 reef fish of various species on board that they had caught in the Bahamas (see the picture, above). Danzig did not have a license to fish in the Bahamas.
Last week, a U.S. court sentenced Danzig to one year’s probation for illegally harvesting commercial quantities of fish in the Bahamas (he had sold some Bahamas fish to his restaurant). He had violated the Lacey Act, which prohibits trafficking in illegal fish and wildlife.
But Danzig won’t face any jail time. He made a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office that he would buy the Royal Bahamas Defence Force a new 30-foot Contender, with twin 250-hp outboards, as part of his sentence. Base price of the boat: $200,000.
To raise money to buy the new Contender, Danzig had to sell his own Contender, Bodacious.
“This case is a double win for The Bahamas and the United States,” said Usha E. Pitts, the Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas. “Not only did our two countries collaborate to confiscate fish harvested illegally, the case resulted in the transfer of a brand-new vessel that the Royal Bahamas Defence Force can use to prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the future.” Read more:
https://www.miamiherald.com/article251213609.html
