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$53,000 fine for illegal crab haul on Gold Coast

February 21, 2020

TWO people were fined a total of $53,000 after being found in possession of an illegal crab haul comprising a large number of female and undersized crabs and undersized fish taken from Paradise Point on the Gold Coast.

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said: “While the vast majority of fishers do the right thing, there are still too many cases such as this before the courts.”

Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers conducted surveillance on their fishing activities and went to the fishers’ home under a search warrant, where they found:

26 blue swimmer crab claws;
43 female blue swimmer crabs;
64 undersized blue swimmer crabs;
Nine female mud crabs;
Four undersized mud crabs;
Three undersized bream;
One undersized sand whiting; and
Four commercial fishing nets.

The defendants were also found guilty of obstructing an inspector after trying to hide the illegal crab haul from QBFP officers.

“This sort of blatant disregard for our rules has a serious impact on an important community resource, especially as one of the defendants had previously been issued nine infringement notices on three separate occasions,” Mr Furner said. “All fishers need to understand the regulations and requirements around crabbing and size limits.

“Otherwise, you will be caught and prosecuted. QBFP uses a range of techniques and technology to uncover illegal activities, including surveillance cameras. We also recently deployed drones as part of our compliance enforcement effort, making it even harder for people to hide illegal activities.”

For more information on Queensland’s fishing regulations, call 13 25 23, visit fisheries.qld.gov.au or download the free Qld Fishing app from Apple and Google app stores.

TWO people were fined a total of $53,000 after being found in possession of an illegal crab haul comprising a large number of female and undersized crabs and undersized fish taken from Paradise Point on the Gold Coast.