Two business owners were charged on Wednesday with tossing hundreds of mothballs onto St. Pete Beach in April.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the men were trying to disrupt the nesting season for threatened black skimmer shorebirds. The nests are typically fenced off to prevent eggs from being trampled.
Robert Czyszczon and Christopher Monroe each face a felony charge for commercial littering for the purpose of economic gain and a misdemeanor charge for the harassment of shorebirds.
FWC announced the arrests at a press conference in Tampa on Wednesday.
“Based on evidence gathered during our investigation, we believe the mothballs were an attempt to deter skimmers from nesting behind a Plaza Beach hotel,” said Major Evan Laskowski.
The black skimmer shorebird is a Florida native and state-listed imperiled species because of their low population. The main threat to the species is habitat loss due to coastal development, according to the FWC.
The use of mothballs outdoors is illegal in Florida due to their toxicity and potential harm to wildlife. Although no birds were harmed by the mothballs, such harassment can delay their nesting.
“These species need extra help and protection to ensure their survival,” Laskowski said. “When people harass or disturb them, it has a direct negative impact on their ability to successfully nest and bring their population numbers back up.”
According to FWC biologists, Pinellas County is home to around 10% of the species in the state.
“That’s no small thing when you’re talking about a state that is as vast as Florida,” said FWC Capt. Matthew Dallarosa. “This species, as well as all others, deserves protecting, but especially when you’re talking about a state-listed, imperiled species.”
Laskowski said video surveillance and receipt records from a local Walmart helped identify Czyszczon, owner of the Plaza Beach Hotel, as responsible for buying a large amount of mothballs the day before they were found at the beach.
FWC obtained warrants for Czyszczon’s cell phone information, which showed them his location was on the beach on both nights the mothballs were placed.
They also found texts that led them to Monroe, manager and owner of a bar on the hotel’s property, whose phone data placed him at the same location as Czyszczon on both nights.
Monroe is the manager and owner of a bar on the hotel's property.
Dallarosa said the texts showed both men believed the birds were detrimental to their businesses.
“They’re the worst birds, and then the bird people will put up a fence around the area,” Dallarosa read directly from one of the texts. “And then the beach people will not be able to get to-and-from, because they will fence around that space.”
When asked if he had a message for business owners who might think about doing something similar, Dallarosa said wildlife and humans can co-exist on the county’s beaches.
“We can take in millions of residents and visitors and at the same time have hundreds of birds’ nests successfully,” he said. “We know we can do that, that’s a common-sense measure we can keep moving forward on.”
