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Ausfish Bronze Member
Cleveland men convicted of illegal crabbing
Queensland Government
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Media release
27 September 2013
Cleveland men convicted of illegal crabbing
Two recreational fishers have been convicted and fined $23,450 in total in the Cleveland Magistrates Court for illegal crabbing offences.
Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol (QBFP) officer James Hohenhaus said they were each fined $11,450 with one of the men fined an additional $550 for obstruction.
“QBFP was on joint patrol with the Queensland Police Service when they spotted a vessel retrieving sunken crab pots with a grappling hook from the Toondah Harbour Public Boat Ramp at Cleveland,” Mr Hohenhaus said.
“As the officers approached, one of the men on board began to throw blue swimmer crabs into nearby mangroves. We retrieved the crabs and found they were all undersized.
“Inspection of the vessel revealed a number of illegal fish including 10 female mud crabs, 10 undersize blue swimmer crabs, five undersize yellowfin bream and one undersize male mud crab.
“The men had used 19 crab pots that day, which was 11 more than the limit for two recreational fishers (the limit is four per crabber).
“The pots were not tagged with a name and address, and did not have floats attached as required by law.
“The men admitted they knew the seafood caught was undersized, as they had used a measuring device onboard.
“The vessel and seafood were seized as part of the investigation.
“Given the blatant disregard for fishing rules, the magistrate indicated the vessel should be forfeited, however the men unfortunately did not own it so it will be released on this occasion.”
Mr Hohenhaus said the severity of the fine was an important warning for everyone to be responsible crabbers.
“If we are to continue to enjoy fishing, everyone must share the resources and abide by the laws,” he said.
“People who suspect illegal crabbing are urged to report it to the Fishwatch hotline on 1800 017 116.”
For more information on fishing rules in Queensland, visit www.fisheries.qld.gov.au or call 13 25 23. Follow Fisheries Queensland on Facebook and Twitter (@FisheriesQld).
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Ausfish Gold Member
Re: Cleveland men convicted of illegal crabbing
Good onyas Fisheries...job WELL done.....just cant get over the fact that a pro gets done for 50 odd extra pots and only receives $17,000 penalty....AND after a 2nd offence
Not YOUR fault I know....but look at the irony.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks, Ray & Kerri.
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Ausfish Addict
Re: Cleveland men convicted of illegal crabbing
add to that above - it shouldn't matter who owns the boat. It should be confiscated and it might stop the strategy of these guys using another persons boat or having it in the wife or sons name. Confiscate all equipment used in the offense including the household freezer if it had a single gram of crab meat in it as well. Need to put the names out there as well so family and friends know their character.
nice to see another conviction.
Edit - Wonder how many other strings of pots they had down that are now ghost pots . Hope fisheries checked the GPS and got every pot mark and all tracks. Be nice for them to prove where they purchased their pots as well - I'll guess that they didn't buy em and fisheries should put up the photo of the pots as lots of people mark em and I'd love to see a criminal conviction of theft or additional charge of handling stolen property on the mongrels. Thieves piss me off so much
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Ausfish Bronze Member
Re: Cleveland men convicted of illegal crabbing
Well done fisheries.
A couple more grubs caught. Although I Wonder if the owner of the boat was totally ignorant, could be an accomplice or someone in the or family as Cormorant says.
I wonder how many of these morons actually get caught each year? Not enough i suppose.
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Ausfish Addict
Re: Cleveland men convicted of illegal crabbing
Please name these grubs, Fisheries! The matter is on the public record thru the courts so cant see any reason to protect them!
If they are locals they will be shamed in their local community, and deservedly so.
Note to self: Don't argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience....
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Ausfish Silver Member
Re: Cleveland men convicted of illegal crabbing
Nice work boys, just wondering those Fines, do they get the rest of their lives to pay them off like say Sper.
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Ausfish Silver Member
Re: Cleveland men convicted of illegal crabbing
The boat should be confiscated and sold at auction. The proceeds then go to DPI/Fisheries for research/restocking/patrolling.... I personally find it refreshing being checked by DPI/fisheries, it means they are out there doing their job!
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Ausfish Silver Member
Re: Cleveland men convicted of illegal crabbing
Hang the bastards i recon. Excuse the french but how many more years can the ocean take of the rape and pillage attitude. As if it isnt hard enough to enjoy a good day out on the boat and take home something to eat for the fams.
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Ausfish Platinum Member
Re: Cleveland men convicted of illegal crabbing
Good save fisheries, but I'm also left wondering how a fish shop recently gets a much lower fine for having heaps of jennies and undersized crabs. Both mobs got off lightly I reckon. Perhaps they should be fined the equal of what the boat was worth. These thieves will just borrow other people's boats if they do this often, as mentioned in a previous post.
Also, I wonder whether putting their nads in a big chocolate bucks claw as punishment would stop offenders...
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Ausfish New Member
Re: Cleveland men convicted of illegal crabbing
Good report. Not a bad fine for the grubs with over $10000 each for an individual. I laughed when I read that they tried to throw the evidence away, it would have been great to see on video. Have to agree with Sheik that the Restaurant got off lightly. Fisheries, keep at them lowlifes on the water.
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