Fine and three month jail sentence for Ballarat man
24 November 2017
A Haddon man has been jailed for three months, fined $5,000 and banned from fishing for seven years after being found guilty in the Geelong Magistrates Court of 26 charges under the Fisheries Act.
Queenscliff Fisheries Officer Brad Smith said the 52 year-old man was found guilty after being apprehended by Fisheries Officers in October 2016 in a vessel on Port Phillip Bay near Clifton Springs.
Mr Smith said when officers attempted to inspect the male he confronted them and was extremely hostile and aggressive, refused to co-operate, and provided a false name and address a number of times for well over an hour.
As a result of his behaviour officers were unable to complete their inspection or establish if he was licenced to fish. Water Police attended in support, but were also unable to safely board the vessel.
Magistrate McGarvie heard the matter, where three Fisheries Officers provided detailed evidence of the incident. Ms McGarvie found the man guilty of all charges.
She was scathing of his behaviour stating that "this was a disgraceful exhibition of contempt and disdain for authority. It was one of the most egregious examples of behaviour I have seen from anyone dealing with anyone in authority".
As well as the sentence and fine, the man was ordered to pay $6,722 in costs, and under Section 130 of the Fisheries Act he is prohibited from being on a vessel less than 20 metres in length that has fishing equipment on Victorian waters or undertaking, or otherwise, being involved in any form of fishing in Victoria for seven years.
The Victorian Fisheries Authority conducted well over 48,000 inspections of fishers last financial year to promote sustainable, responsible and safe fishing.
The vast majority of fishers provide assistance to fisheries officers in the inspection process, and many exercise excellent stewardship of the resource by reporting illegal fishing to the 13 FISH (13 3474) hotline.
Quotes attributable to Mr. Smith:
"This result sends a clear message to not only the accused, but anyone undertaking fishing activities that this type of behaviour toward Fisheries Officers' will not be tolerated, and will be met with heavy penalties"
"Fisheries Officers ensure that Victoria's fisheries are sustainably managed to ensure that all Victorians can share and enjoy them for now and into the future. Anyone accessing Victoria's many fisheries should expect that at some stage they may be inspected by Fisheries Officers."