The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Operation Processor 24 concluded earlier this year, following a 4-month effort to inspect businesses involved in meat processing and taxidermy of highly regulated wildlife species. The operation began on Nov. 1, 2024, and concluded its inspections on March 1, 2025, with several investigations still ongoing.
The operation covered all 16 counties of the Northwest Region, from the Alabama state line to Jefferson County. It included 88 businesses known to work with regulated species. Of those, 70 were actively operating during the inspection period. The initiative focused on ensuring compliance with wildlife conservation laws while supporting hunters and trappers.
“This detail underscores the FWC’s commitment to protecting Florida’s wildlife and holding processors and taxidermists accountable to the law,” said Maj. Robby Creech, FWC Northwest Regional Commander. “The results speak for themselves and further support our ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of CWD throughout our state.”
A total of over 100 violations of Florida laws and rules were cited during the operation. These included but were not limited to:
- Failure to submit harvest reports.
- Hunting without a license.
- No deer permit.
- No archery permit.
- Taking deer during closed season.
- Taking deer by illegal method.
- Exceeding daily bag limit for deer.
- Exceeding seasonal bag limit for deer.
- Antler restriction violations.
- Illegal sale of deer meat.
- Taking bobcat during closed season.
- Illegal take of fox.
- Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) violations .
The operation also led investigators to violations that occurred in other states. FWC partnered with Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi to curtail wildlife violations crossing state lines.
The FWC would like to remind hunters to report their deer and wild turkey harvests. For more information on harvest reporting requirements, see MyFWC.com/HarvestReport
For additional FWC Division of Law Enforcement news, visit MyFWC.com/LENew
