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Fisheries Easter patrols boosted to catch crab crooks
Date: Thursday, 9 April 2009
Patrols by Fisheries and Marine Officers will be boosted over Easter, to catch fishers involved in illegal activities on Cockburn Sound or at Mandurah.
South Metropolitan Region Compliance Manager John Breeden said too many fishers had recently been ignoring the current ban on crab fishing in Cockburn Sound.
“We launched prosecutions against 46 people, during February and March, for offences in the Sound, so we need to remind others the area is a no go zone for crab fishers,” Mr Breeden said.
“Cockburn Sound has been closed to crab fishing since December 2006, to allow time for the stocks to recover from poor recruitment and low stock numbers and, until it is decided to reopen the crab fishery there, we need to enforce the ban.”
Mr Breeden said that Fisheries and Marine Officers would be focusing on Cockburn Sound and Mandurah with extra patrols through this Easter weekend.
“While the waterways around Mandurah are open to crab fishing, we will be targeting fishers who take undersize crabs or more than the rules allow for,” he said.
“The majority of recreational fishers do the right thing, but there are some crooks who try to exploit this community resource.
“For example, last month four men were fined a total of $7375, for between them illegally taking 246 undersize crabs from an estuary near Mandurah.”
Mr Breeden said the magistrate’s decision to issue the penalties against the fishers was a warning to crab fishing crooks that this was unacceptable and greedy behaviour.
“This sort of illegal fishing activity is increasing the cost of monitoring recreational fishing in Mandurah’s waterways and robbing the public of their resources,” he said.
When apprehended, at 9.20pm on Wednesday 14 January this year, the men were in a car that was stopped by Fisheries and Marine Officers and each of the men had various containers, in which they had stored undersize crabs for themselves.
The minimum legal size limit for blue swimmer crabs is 127mm across the widest part of the shell. There is a bag limit of 10 blue swimmer crabs per fisher per day and a daily boat limit of 20 per boat when two or more people are on the vessel.
More details of all the rules that apply for crab fishing and other WA fisheries are available on the Department of Fisheries website at www.fish.wa.gov.au.
South Metropolitan Region Compliance Manager John Breeden said too many fishers had recently been ignoring the current ban on crab fishing in Cockburn Sound.
“We launched prosecutions against 46 people, during February and March, for offences in the Sound, so we need to remind others the area is a no go zone for crab fishers,” Mr Breeden said.
“Cockburn Sound has been closed to crab fishing since December 2006, to allow time for the stocks to recover from poor recruitment and low stock numbers and, until it is decided to reopen the crab fishery there, we need to enforce the ban.”
Mr Breeden said that Fisheries and Marine Officers would be focusing on Cockburn Sound and Mandurah with extra patrols through this Easter weekend.
“While the waterways around Mandurah are open to crab fishing, we will be targeting fishers who take undersize crabs or more than the rules allow for,” he said.
“The majority of recreational fishers do the right thing, but there are some crooks who try to exploit this community resource.
“For example, last month four men were fined a total of $7375, for between them illegally taking 246 undersize crabs from an estuary near Mandurah.”
Mr Breeden said the magistrate’s decision to issue the penalties against the fishers was a warning to crab fishing crooks that this was unacceptable and greedy behaviour.
“This sort of illegal fishing activity is increasing the cost of monitoring recreational fishing in Mandurah’s waterways and robbing the public of their resources,” he said.
When apprehended, at 9.20pm on Wednesday 14 January this year, the men were in a car that was stopped by Fisheries and Marine Officers and each of the men had various containers, in which they had stored undersize crabs for themselves.
The minimum legal size limit for blue swimmer crabs is 127mm across the widest part of the shell. There is a bag limit of 10 blue swimmer crabs per fisher per day and a daily boat limit of 20 per boat when two or more people are on the vessel.
More details of all the rules that apply for crab fishing and other WA fisheries are available on the Department of Fisheries website at www.fish.wa.gov.au.
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