Fisheries Queensland crushes, shreds seized boat

The minute-long video shows the boat, forfeited after its owner was found guilty of black marketing redclaw, being crushed by an excavator at what looks like a metal recycling facility.

Once crushed, it is fed into a shredder that reduces the 4.5-metre cat into little more than a tangled pile of scrap.

Fisheries Queensland said the boat’s twin Mercury outboard engines were auctioned off a few weeks ago, but the modifications made to the hull meant it had to be destroyed rather than sold on.

The boat was seized after Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers raided a Kuraby-based fisher delivering almost 200 redclaw to a Sunnybank restaurant in March last year.

During the investigation, 82 freshwater traps, more than 133 kilograms of redclaw, the 4.5-metre catamaran that was eventually shredded, and a kayak were also seized at Somerset Dam and Brisbane.

A recreational fisher, who was not a first-time offender, pleaded guilty to five charges including selling fisheries without a licence and using 78 excess and unmarked freshwater traps, was fined $7600 and had his vessel forfeited to the state.

A restaurant manager, who said he bought the redclaw for a staff party and didn’t intend to sell it, was fined $1000 after pleading guilty to one count of selling seafood without an authority.

The seized boat was displayed at boat ramps around the state as a reminder to other anglers of what could happen if they ever decided to break the law.