Two commercial fishers fined over great white shark catch
Thursday 27 June, 2002

Two commercial fishers were fined recently in the Whyalla Magistrates Court following the illegal capture of a great white shark in April 2001.

Stephen Mark Cook, a 40 year old marine scalefish fisher from Whyalla Norrie, and Leslie John Tansell, a 46 year old marine scalefish fisher from Whyalla, pleaded guilty to various fisheries offences.

Cook was fined $750 for taking and consigning a protected species. Tansell was fined $400 for being in possession of a protected species. The Magistrate also recorded a conviction against Cook and confirmed the forfeiture of the carcass and the jaws.

The carcass was being taken to an Adelaide fish processor when it was seized by Primary Industries and Resources SA (PIRSA) Fisheries officers.

The officers were responding to a telephone call from a member of the public to the FISHWATCH line. FISHWATCH is the 24 hour telephone service for reporting illegal fishing activities – 1800 065 522.

A subsequent search of two houses near Whyalla revealed a set of shark jaws, which were seized by Fisheries compliance officers. The Court heard how scientists at SARDI Aquatic Sciences & CSIRO positively identified the carcass and jaws as that of a great white shark. The SA Museum confirmed identification of the shark by sampling the DNA.

General Manager Fisheries Services, Mark Lewis reminded all fishers that the great white shark is fully protected in all Australian waters.

"In this case, it was claimed that the shark was accidentally caught when it became tangled in a commercial long line," he said. "There is a protocol that requires fishers to reports any events, such as the accidental capture of a protected species, to the Fishwatch telephone number.

"It is important that great white sharks have the same protection as all other endangered species and to that end it is important anyone wanting to profit from the sale of protected fish species are penalised."