Abalone thefts land offenders in hot water

Two teenage boys will face court over alleged illegal abalone activity on the NSW Far South Coast, Industry & Investment NSW Fisheries Compliance Manager, Glenn Tritton, said today.

The alleged offenders from Hurstville and La Perouse were spotted by Industry and Investment (I&I) NSW Fisheries Officers from the Statewide Operations and Investigation Group at Dalmeny, north of Narooma, in October.

“It will be alleged the two youths were intercepted as they attempted to collect several bags of abalone which had been hidden in coastal bush land earlier in the day,” Mr Tritton said.

“They were found to be in joint possession of 130 live abalone – all but one were of a prohibited size.

“Some of the abalone were found to be as small as 8 cm - the minimum legal length for abalone is 11.7 cm. Only two abalone per person is allowed in waters open to the taking of abalone.

“Thankfully, I&I NSW Fisheries Officers seized the abalone and returned all of them to the water, live.”

Officers also seized two abalone diving equipment.

The offenders have been charged with possess more than the possession limit for abalone, and possess prohibited size abalone, and face $11,000 in fines and three months in jail for each offence.

Meantime, a 57 year old Canberra man has been fined $5000 in Queanbeyan Local Court, after pleading guilty to possessing 234 shucked abalone hid illegally in the tyre well of his vehicle.

The man was apprehended after a routine traffic stop at Batemans Bay in 2007.

He was also ordered to pay professional and court costs.

“This sentence clearly shows that courts are prepared to hand out stiff penalties for persons committing offences of this nature,” Mr Tritton said.

“The NSW Government will continue to target those people involved in illegal abalone activity.

“Industry & Investment NSW has taken important management steps to rebuild the abalone population in NSW.

“The continued theft of large numbers of juvenile abalone continues to threaten the recovery of abalone stocks, and it simply won’t be tolerated.

“This is exactly the reason why the NSW Government is amending the Fisheries Management Act 1994, to allow for tougher penalties for illegal fishing, in response to the findings of the landmark Palmer Report which found that the illegal harvesting and black marketing of fish is a serious, widespread, entrenched and growing problem in NSW.”

These provisions include increasing the powers the courts have in sentencing convicted fisheries criminals, increasing the powers Fisheries Officers have to act on suspected illegal fishing activity and tougher penalties for a range of offences.

Rewards are offered for information leading to a conviction of illegal abalone receivers and divers. Information can be provided direct to the Abalone Compliance Group on 64998000 or the Fishers Watch Phoneline on 1800 043 536.

Further reading

Abalone Fishery