Abalone thieves dodge jail
12 May 2016
A Korumburra magistrate has told two abalone thieves they only dodged jail because of their guilty pleas, before fining them a total of $12,500.
The men, one aged 60 from Foster and the other aged 36 from Doncaster East, were seen taking abalone from a place known as Chicken Rock, in Waratah Bay, in December last year.
The court heard plain-clothes Fisheries Officers watched them as they rode bikes to Chicken Rock. They dived for some time and took approximately 17 abalone altogether, before removing the meats from the shells on the reef beside the water.
They began riding back towards Waratah Bay and were approached by the officers but did a U-turn and rode off at speed when asked to stop.
They hid one bag of abalone, the bikes and two wetsuits in the bush, a second bag of abalone was thrown into the water.
After several hours hiding in the bush the men returned on foot to their car but were later intercepted by police before the Fisheries Officers arrived and arrested them.
The case was heard by Magistrate Dunn in Korumburra where both pleaded guilty to obstruction of Fisheries Officers, failing to obey a direction to stop a vehicle, taking more than twice the catch limit for abalone and shucking abalone.
The Magistrate said they were serious offences that struck at the heart of the abalone fishery and that fishing must be done in accordance with expensive licences that protect fish stocks and the people who invest in the fishery, as well as the public.
The Foster man, who had prior fisheries convictions, was convicted and fined $8,000, he was also ordered to pay costs. The other man was fined $4,500 with costs. All property was ordered forfeited and to be disposed of.
Yarram Fisheries Officer Joel Sedgwick, said the catch limit for abalone is five per person per day and abalone must be not be taken from the inter-tidal zone (ie, water that is less than two metres deep).
"They also need a recreational fishing licence, to use an abalone tool to take them, carry a measuring device and keep the abalone in the shell until the place of consumption," Mr Sedgwick said.
Anyone who sees or suspects illegal fishing activity is urged to call the 24 hour reporting line 13 FISH (13 3474).