Hawkesbury netter busted with undersized jewfish and lobsters
Commercial fisher faces potential prison time for illegal gill netting and lobster and jewfish catchA commercial fisher from Umino, at the mouth of the Hawksbury River, has been apprehended with a cache of illegally caught eastern rock lobsters and undersized mulloway aka jewfish.
NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSWDPI) Fisheries Acting Compliance Director, Tony Andrews, said the Central Coast team was joined by Statewide Operations and Investigations Group Officers in June (2016) in an operation to crack down on compliance within the Estuary General Fishery.
There is a lot of illegal fishing activity around valuable lobsters and abalone these days, but taking illegal and undersized jewfish will upset the angling masses no end, especially around the shared Hawkesbury River fishery. This is also a terrible look for fishers in the face of marine parks in the Hawkesbury Bioregion and for the image of net fishing in general.
"The 36-year-old commercial fisherman was found in possession of 44 live Eastern Rock Lobsters and 12 prohibited-size mulloway," Mr Andrews said.
"He also admitted to officers to oversetting his meshing nets, which is a separate offence as Estuary General Fishers are prohibited from retaining Eastern Rock Lobster caught in meshing nets."
"This fisherman has breached five regulations of the Act, including possessing illegally taken fish and unlawful use of a net or trap," Mr Andrews said.
The fisherman was apprehended and the Eastern Rock Lobsters were returned to the water by officers.
Under the Fisheries Management Act 1994, the fisherman faces maximum penalties of between six months and 10 years imprisonment and up to $44,000 in fines.
"Stealing fish and black marketing, as well as damage to fish habitats, are serious problems that can impact on the sustainability of our fish stocks across NSW.
"We encourage anyone who sees illegal fishing activity to report it to their nearest Fisheries office, phone our hotline or make an online report," said Mr Andrews.
The commercial fisher has also brought his industry into disrepute and added further fuel to the fire simmering between the shared Hawkesbury River fishery. where jewfish are a highly prized angling species under renewed management.
Report illegal fishing activity in NSW to the Fishers Watch Phoneline: 1800 043 536 and via the Online Report Form at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/compliance/report-illegal-activity.
Photo credit: NSW Fisheries and NSW DPI.
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