Louisiana Man Arrested for Alleged Crab Trap Theft After Stolen and Damaged Traps Found on Lease

St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana - A Louisiana man has been arrested for alleged crab trap theft after stolen and damaged traps were found on a lease.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) stated on February 22, 2023, that on February 15, enforcement agents arrested a person for alleged crab trap theft in St. Bernard Parish.

Colby Guerra, 38, of St. Bernard Parish, was arrested and booked into the St. Bernard Parish Jail for theft of crab traps.

On February 15, agents were told that a parcel leased by Colby Guerra allegedly had many crab traps belonging to other commercial crab fishermen. Agents searching the property with consent from the landowner discovered untagged crab traps, cut commercial hard tags, and damaged traps spread over the property.

Commercial fisherman were then instructed to identify allegedly stolen crab traps and bring their own crab traps to compare. Agents retrieved 30 stolen crab traps from Guerra after additional investigation.

Stealing of crab traps is punishable by a $950 fine and up to 120 days in prison. For the first violation, in addition to all other penalties, the department shall suspend or revoke the violator's crab trap gear license for a period of one year from the date of conviction, and no new crab trap gear license shall be issued to the violator during the period of suspension or revocation. During the period in which the violator's license is suspended or revoked, the violator may be present aboard a commercially harvesting or processing crab vessel only if the vessel is equipped with and actively using a vessel monitoring system accessible to the department.

Guerra might possibly be sentenced to up to 40 hours of community service by removing abandoned crab traps as part of the derelict crab trap removal program or for litter abatement.

Senior Agent Shea Schexnaydre, Sgt. Joshua Laviolette, Sgt. Villere Reggio, Sgt. Jason Gernados, and Lt. Adam Young are the agents involved in this case.

An arrest is an indication that probable cause exists to believe the subject was involved in the offense alleged. A person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.