Two Florida men accused of killing a tarpon after breaking into an aquarium to go fishing

Surveillance video allegedly shows the men catching a 55-inch tarpon and holding it out of the water for photos

Derrick Lee Vivian (left) and Christopher Jeffrey Smith (right), face burglary and illegal fishing charges after being caught on video fishing in a private lagoon at Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters (Monroe County Sheriff's Office)

Police arrested a second suspect this week over a break-in at a Florida Keys aquarium that led to the death of a large tarpon.

Security camera footage from May 25 last year showed two men entering Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters just before 3 a.m. and unlawfully fishing in the facility’s private lagoon, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

The video reportedly captured the pair catching a tarpon, estimated at 55 inches, and holding it out of the water for roughly five minutes to pose for photos. Afterward, they returned the fish to the lagoon, but aquarium staff discovered it dead the next morning.

The suspects were later identified as Derrick Lee Vivian, 25, of Fort Myers and Christopher Jeffrey Smith, 20, of Marathon.

Vivian was arrested on November 5, and Smith was booked into jail Wednesday. Bond is set at $27,000 for both men, according to online court records.

Derrick Lee Vivian (left) and Christopher Jeffrey Smith (right), face burglary and illegal fishing charges after being caught on video fishing in a private lagoon at Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters (Monroe County Sheriff's Office)

Both men have been charged with burglary and illegally removing a tarpon greater than 40 inches from the water. The latter charge, a misdemeanor, is punishable for a first-time offense by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

The sheriff’s office toldThe Independent that no exercises were conducted to determine the pair’s possible intoxication at the time of the break-in, since they were identified and arrested after the incident.

Tarpon are prized mainly as catch-and-release sport fish, and are not usually eaten because they have tough, bony meat. However, tarpon populations have declined significantly over the past 50 years, Aaron Adams, the director of science and conservation at the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, told Garden & Gun in 2023.

In 2024, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that 15.3 percent of tarpon hooked and fought for over five minutes were eaten on the line, but this rise in depredation reflects recovering great hammerhead shark populations and increased fishing activity, not an ecosystem imbalance.