SA fishers face massive fine hikes

In the biggest change, exceeding bag limits will result in a $625 hip pocket hit, up from as little as $50 slap on the wrist levied under a structure of fines that has remained largely unchanged in the state since penalties to discourage overfishing were introduced in 1989.

South Australian Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister David Basham said the current fines were too low and not an effective deterrent.

“Some fishing fines haven’t increased for almost 30 years and are no longer deterring people who want to break the rules,” Basham said.

“The black market value of seafood has increased well beyond the penalties set back in the 1980s.

“For example, under the old rules, someone caught taking 20 undersize crabs could only be issued a $100 fine. Offenders found it cheaper to break the law than pay up to $150 for the crabs at the shops.

“Both recreational fishers and the commercial sector have been disgusted at these low fines, and both have called for significantly larger fines to deter wrongdoers," he said.

“Using the blue crab example, under the new penalties announced today, an offender caught with more than 20 undersized crabs is going to be fined $625.”

Basham said the move to roll out larger fines was also supported by the Minister’s Recreational Fishing Advisory Council.

The fine hikes – they will apply to 128 individual offences – means that anyone taking 10 undersize King George whiting can expect the current $50 fine to jump up to $625 under the new scheme. Likewise, taking 10 over the limit of squid will jump from a $50 fine to $625.

Last month, fisheries officers caught a man with 126 blue swimmer crabs – way over the 20-crab limit – taken from Thompson Beach, of which 124 were undersize.

The Davoran Park man is expected to face court where he risks fines of up to $20,000 and an extra penalty calculated at five times the commercial value of the crabs he was caught with.