Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
A BRISBANE recreational fisher with a history of fisheries infringements has been fined $17,000 for crabbing offences on the Logan River.
Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol acting district manager Mark Saul said fisheries officers intercepted the Stretton man’s vehicle leaving Marks Rd boat ramp at Woongoolba on the Logan River during a targeted operation against illegal crabbing. They found 104 mud crabs, including 51 protected females and 46 undersize males, hidden in an inflatable vessel on a box trailer, Mr Saul said.
The mud crabs were either loose in the inflatable vessel, inside crab pots on board or escaping from the crab pots. The fisher told QBFP officers he intended stopping under a street light to release any regulated crabs, that he understood the laws applying to mud crabs in Queensland and could identify female mud crabs.
He pleaded guilty in the Beenleigh Magistrates’ Court to five fisheries offences including possessing female and undersize mud crabs, possessing excess crab pots and using unmarked crabbing apparatus. The court was told the fisher had a history of fisheries infringements, including the possession of a substantial number of regulated mud crabs, more than half of them female, in 2014.
He was fined $17,000, with no conviction recorded. To report suspected illegal fishing activity, call the Fishwatch hotline on 1800 017 116. Don’t engage the person, as this can compromise an investigation. For more information on Queensland fishing rules and regulations, visit www.fisheries.qld.gov.au , call 13 25 23 or download the free Qld Fishing app from Apple and Google app stores. You can follow Fisheries Queensland on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@FisheriesQld).
