Fisher goes for greed, ignoring pink snapper sustainability

by Dept Fisheries WA on 21 May 2009 A tip off from a concerned member of the public has led to the apprehension of a recreational fisher, who was found with 44 undersize fish.

The Alexander Heights man had a haul of 69 fish in all, when Fisheries and Marine Officers searched his vessel at Hillarys Boat Harbour last week (Wednesday 13 May).

North Metropolitan Region Compliance Manager Todd A’Vard said the officers seized 42 undersize pink snapper, as well as an undersize tarwhine and an undersize skippy.

'The average size of the undersize pink snapper seized is 223millimetres. The minimum legal size for pink snapper, taken south of Lancelin, is 450millimetres,' Mr A’Vard said.

'Pink snapper is one of the high risk species and the daily bag limit is two per fisher.'

Mr A’Vard said the rules were in place to ensure the sustainability of finfish stocks in the West Coast Bioregion, which attracted around 80 per cent of the WA’s recreational fishing effort.

'The Fisheries and Marine Officers were not only shocked to find one person with so many fish, they were also concerned to see so many undersize fish in the haul,' he said.

'This matter will proceed to prosecution and we are in the process of establishing the charges that will be issued against the fisher.

'He is likely to face charges for breaching bag limit rules as well as taking undersize fish, which each have potential fines of up to $5,000.

'If the fisher is found guilty he would automatically face an additional mandatory penalty, which could be well over $6,000 – if the magistrate were to choose the option of assigning that penalty on a per fish basis.

'The mandatory penalty is 10 times the prescribed value of the fish by number or weight. In this case each of the 42 undersize snapper is valued at $15 per fish, tarwhine have a prescribed value of $2 per fish and skippy a prescribed value of $1 per fish.

'Anyone who has information on illegal fishing activity should call the Department of Fisheries 24 hour FISHWATCH number on 1800 815 507.'

More details of all the rules that apply for fishing in the West Coast Bioregion are available in a recreational fishing guide, available from Department of Fisheries offices or online at www.fish.wa.gov.au. Look for the link to Recreational Fishing on the home page menu.