Fisheries compliance enforcement 2019-20

Client Contacts and Enforcement: All Fishery Programs (2019-20)

• Around 51,700 client contacts were made (where powers were exercised / not including surveillance).
• Around 4400 written warnings were issued.
• Around 2820 penalty notices were issued.
• 160 offences were successfully prosecuted, including:
  • 135 court imposed fines.
  • 3 community correction orders.
  • 2 bonds (e.g. good behaviour).

Seizures due to non-compliance (2019-20)

Over 64,800 fish and invertebrates seized including:

• 24,543 Cockles
• 4,631 Abalone
• 2,944 Oysters
• 2,905 Turban Snails
• 1,363 Saltwater Nippers
• 1,273 Whelks
• 920 Sea Urchins
• 700 Periwinkles
• 482 Pipis
• 455 Yellowfin bream
• 454 Snapper
• 387 Crabs (other)
• 349 Mud crab
• 320 Tailor
• 311 Eastern rock lobster
• 249 Tiger Flathead
• 227 Mullet
• 214 Sand whiting
• 189 Blue swimmer crabs
• 179 Mussels
• 72 Cartrut Shell
• 71 Rock Blackfish

Over 2,500 items of fishing gear/equipment including:

• 1335 crab traps
• 263 hoop or lift nets
• 217 fishing lines
• 85 yabby traps
• 42 meshing nets
• 41 spears
• 35 cast nets
• 29 lobster traps
• 12 sets of dive gear
• 2 trailer boats

Compliance Operations: Coastal (2019-20)

Coastal operations conducted during 2019-20:

• DPI Xray 19 (July to April 2020) targeting collection of invertebrates in the Coffs Harbour/Woolgoolga area by workers in local horticultural industries
• DPI Alpha Charlie 19 (July 2019) targeting illegal recreational fishing on the Far North Coast
• Operation Stingray (September 2019 to April 2020) targeting illegal shellfish collection at Lake Illawarra
• DPI Alpha Mike 19 (October 2019 to July 2020) targeting illegal recreational fishing on the Far South Coast
• Operation Turbo Reef VII (January 2020) targeting illegal collection of shellfish in the Sydney region on Australia Day long weekend
• DPI Charlie 20 (March to April 2030) targeting illegal commercial mud crabbing on the Far North Coast
• DPI Echo 20 (February to March 2020) targeting illegal commercial mud crabbing on the North Coast
• DPI Juliet 20 (April 2020) targeting illegal fishing in the Port Stephens area during the Easter period and following school holidays
• DPI Kilo 20 (April 2020 to December 2020) targeting illegal fishing within the critical habitat Grey Nurse shark areas of Fish Rock and Green Island near South West Rocks
• DPI Whiskey 20 (June 2020 to December 2020) targeting unlawful fishing for Eastern Rock Lobster in the Illawarra region

Sutherland Local Court August 2019

• A man received a total of $4400 in fines and ordered to pay $1510 in professional costs after being apprehended by fisheries officers in possession of 11 Yellowtail Kingfish measuring between 52.0cm – 56.4cm on the shoreline of Botany Bay on 6th December 2018. The legal recreational possession limit for Yellowtail Kingfish in NSW is 5 per person and the legal minimum size is 65.0cm. Yellowtail Kingfish are a highly valuable recreational and commercial species and are listed as a priority species under the Fisheries Management Act 1994.

Manly Local Court August 2019

• A man was convicted and fined $2500 and ordered to pay $1210 in professional costs after being found by fisheries officers to be in possession of 26 Yellowtail Kingfish, 25 of which were concealed under the floor of the boat and found to be of a prohibited size measuring between 54.8cm – 62.7cm. In total the fish weighed 41kg. The man had been apprehended by fisheries officers in December 2018 about 2.5km offshore from North Head in the Tasman Sea.

Nowra Local Court October 2019

• A man from Coburg Victoria was fined and ordered to pay costs totalling $7056.44 after a search of a vehicle by fisheries officers at Nowra in July 2018 located 86 Eastern Rock Lobsters 48 of which were of prohibited size. The man who was the driver of the vehicle was charged with being in possession in circumstances of aggravation of more than the possession limit of fish and possess prohibited size fish in circumstances of aggravation.

Port Kembla Local Court November 2019

• Two persons were convicted and fined a total of $25,000 ordered to pay costs of $2450 for illegally selling cockles. Fisheries officers had earlier launched an investigation after the two persons placed advertisements in social media platforms offering the cockles for sale that had been taken from Lake Illawarra. The two offenders were not known to each other and were involved in separate incidents. Recreational fishers and shellfish collectors cannot sell their catch.

Port Macquarie Local Court November 2019

• A man from Kinchela on the North Coast was convicted and fined $3000 and ordered to pay costs of $664 for illegally destroying a number of mangroves on the foreshore of the Macleay River in November 2017. Marine vegetation (mangroves, seagrass, saltmarsh, seaweed) is protected under the Fisheries Management Act and a permit is required to harm them. Trimming/removing mangroves for sight lines and safety reasons can be undertaken by Local Councils and other authorities in consultation with DPI Fisheries. Mangrove trimming/removal for views and other aesthetic purposes will generally not be approved.

Newcastle District Local Court December 2019

• A restaurateur was convicted and fined $15,925 and ordered to pay $1725 in professional costs for possessing 17 untagged Eastern Rock Lobsters. Fisheries officers acting on an anonymous tip off searched the restaurant in February 2018 and located the lobsters that were suspected of coming from an illegitimate source (black market).

Batemans Bay Local Court January 2020

• A man from Batehaven was fined $5000 ordered to pay costs of $2000 for exceeding possession limits for abalone and rock lobster and threatening a fisheries officer. In late 2018 and early 2019 the man was detected by fisheries officers using multiple dives per day to circumvent his daily take and possession limits for Blacklip Abalone and Eastern Rock Lobster. The Magistrate also issued a prohibition order preventing the man from taking lobsters or abalone for a period of twelve months.

Byron Local Court January 2020

• A company and an individual were fined and ordered to pay costs totalling $34,500 for a range of offences involving the illegal construction of a wharf, fishing platform, steps and retaining wall in and on the foreshore of Belongil Creek at Byron Bay. The wharf was located in the Cape Byron Marine Park and the other structures were on private land. None of the structures had approval for their construction.

Hornsby Local Court February 2020

• A commercial fisher from the Central Coast was fined a total of $8,800 and ordered to pay an additional $2,380 in costs after being convicted for a range of offences including possessing fish in contravention of a fishing closure, unlawfully using a net or trap for taking fish for sale and contravening a condition of endorsement on a license. Fisheries officers uncovered the offences over a period of time from 2018 to 2019.