Fish bites: Illegal fisher fined just $11K for 12-tonne perch haul
Big fine for small catch, Queensland budget boating blues, salmon science in SAA Victorian man who illegally caught and sold more than $200,000 worth of fish has been hit with a $11,000 fine – almost 20 times less than the value of his catch.
Shaun Russell Cox, 36, from Pomona near Mildura, pleaded guilty this week to seven charges of taking protected golden perch from the Darling River and selling it in Melbourne.
It was alleged he caught and sold 12 tonnes of golden perch over a three-year period. Cox last year was fined $15,000 by NSW authorities and had his fishing boat and equipment confiscated.
However, the ABC reports that Mildura County Court Magistrate Judge John Smallwood could only fine him for selling the fish without a licence, and profiting from the proceeds of crime – both of which attracted only small fines despite the scale of the scam.
But it is not over yet. Cox is likely to face more financial penalties, with the court yet to decide how much of the more than $205,000 he made selling the fish will need to be paid back.
Big trouble over little fish
How small is too small? A NSW couple was slapped with a $2400 fine after being caught with 103 undersize fish after a day out fishing at Lake Macquarie.
However, the pair was pinged at a wharf at North Entrance down at nearby Tuggerah Lake where they stopped to have another quick fish on the way back home to Sydney, with fisheries officers noticing a bucket with undersize fish in it.
A search of their car turned up an icebox with all the fish caught earlier. The couple was hit with 10 separate offences for possessing undersize fish and exceeding catch limits.
Queensland Budget bypasses boating, fishing
This week’s Queensland State Budget has left boaters and fishers wanting more with no significant spending next financial year.
The only significant bolster to boating is $1.2 million allocated to build a boat ramp at The Spit, part of a makeover of the foreshore area by the Gold Coast Waterways Authority.
Queensland has more than 430 pieces of marine infrastructure related to recreational boating valued at about $153 million, including boat harbours, boat ramps, jetties, pontoons, floating walkways, channels, and breakwaters/rock groynes.
The Queensland Government’s last commitment to recreational boating was a $30 million extension of the Marine Infrastructure Fund to June 2020, aiming to provide new and upgraded recreational boating facilities.
Also missing out on a Budget boost are Queensland’s volunteer marine rescue services, with future spending still being shaped by the Blue Water Review into marine safety.
SA calls on salmon 'scientists'
South Australia’s recreational fishers are being asked to donate thor salmon frames to science to help the state better manage wild stocks of the fish.
It’s the second year running for the citizen science program, with one of the 350 frames submitted last year from a salmon caught off state’s west coast measuring 84cm from a fish believed to be around 11 years old.
"Australian Salmon is one of the most popular sportfish for recreational fishers here in South Australia,” SA Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development David Basham said.
“By donating your salmon frames, you will help improve our biological knowledge of this iconic species in South Australia, which will inform how this important fishery is sustainably managed into the future.”
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