Fisheries Officers from the Batemans Bay District and the State-wide Operations and Investigations Group, Regional Mobile Squad, apprehended a repeat fisheries offender on May 9, 2022, in Ulladulla.
The offender faced the courts this week and was sentenced to 18 months in jail with a non-parole period of 11 months and fined $35,000, after he pleaded guilty to a range of fishing offences, including trafficking an indictable species of fish, two counts of possessing more fish than the limit in circumstances of aggravation and possessing prohibited sized fish.
The man was caught by Fisheries Officers with 94 Abalone, when two is the possession limit per person and a commercial quantity of Eastern Rock Lobster (six in total), when the bag limit per person is two, on the south coast.
During the original inspection, Fisheries Officers seized the Abalone and Rock Lobsters along with the alleged offender’s vehicle, Jetski, trailer and dive gear.
DPI Fisheries Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), Solitary Ranger, spent a busy summer on the South Coast focusing on Marine Park and commercial fishing compliance with a number of sanctuary zone offences detected in the Batemans Marine Park.
The OPV is continuing patrols further south to the border over February with colleagues from the Victorian Fisheries Authority offered to come on a run and check out the vessel and its capabilities.
DPI Fisheries requests that anyone who observes suspected illegal activity should call the DPI Fishers Watch service on 1800 043 536 or report it online HERE.
Images: DPI Fisheries
