Two individuals involved in a Danish Seine operation based in Lakes Entrance have been fined, placed on good behaviour bonds, and had the proceeds of their illegal catch forfeited after retaining more than the 200kg trip limit for snapper in the Southern and Eastern Scalefish & Shark Fishery.
When a fisher takes more than they’re meant to, it ends up undermining the management measures we’ve put in place to make sure all Australian Fisheries are sustainable. You mightn’t realise this, but taking just a little bit more than you’re allowed has severe consequences for both Commonwealth and state fisheries, and not to mention your hip pocket when you get caught!
AFMA’s National Compliance Operations Unit were alerted to the snapper over catch and found that the operators of a Lakes Entrance vessel had taken a total of 935kg of snapper. This was 735kg more than the trip limit allowed for trawl boats fishing in the Offshore Constitutional Settlement.
Two men appeared in the Bairnsdale Magistrates Court in December and were found guilty of all charges. They were fined a total of $2,000 and were ordered to forfeit the proceeds of the illegal catch, valued at almost $7,000.
Recently, a NSW south coast skipper was found guilty at Milton (NSW) Local Court, for not deploying warp deflectors (pinkies) whilst fishing. It mightn’t sound like much, but when you are a concession holder there are rules you are meant to follow, and if you break them you get into serious trouble.
The Magistrate proved the matter without conviction and the defendant was ordered to forfeit the proceeds of the catch ($3,426.10) and enter into a $1,000 good behaviour period for 12 months.
The magistrate stated how important and serious these matters are to the ecology of our fisheries. “The community, Government regulators and the Industry must all work together to successfully ensure we sustain our environment and as this is a prosecution that is relatively new and has not been tested in a court of law prior to today – an example must be made to show the Industry that this is a serious concern and people will be prosecuted for direct disregard in these matters. “
AFMA takes illegal fishing very seriously and whilst the vast majority of fishers do the right thing, those few who continue to break the law are in our sights and will get caught. In fact, we receive a lot of positive feedback from fishers saying our risk based approach to targeting fisheries and fishers is hitting the right mark.
If you suspect illegal fishing or black-market fish supply to be occurring in your area please contact 1800 CRIMFISH (1800 274 634).
For more information, please contact Tod Spencer, Senior Manager, National Compliance Strategy on 02 6225 5312 or tod.spencer@afma.gov.au.