A trip to Fred Howard Park in July of 2011 has cost Rosa Cancel a court date and $500.00 fine.

Cancel says it’s all over what she calls a misunderstanding over mollusks.



"I didn't know what they were,” said Cancel. “I thought they were cute.”



Officer Joshua Allison with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was working undercover that day targeting illegal harvesting of Bay scallops.

He says he watched Rosa for more than an hour using a dip net and putting items in a bag. He says he approached Cancel, told her the area was closed to scalloping and checked the cooler.

He says there were 22 scallops in the cooler.



Officer Allison says he cited Cancel for illegal harvesting of Bay scallops and put the scallops back in the water.



Cancel says it was an honest mistake and she intended to show the shells to her kids and throw them back in the water, but wildlife agents say she should’ve known what she was taking.



A local seafood market says about twenty Bay scallops would sell for less than $4.