Suspended jail sentence for abalone offender
Thursday, 20 May 2004

A Queensland man received a suspended jail sentence for abalone offences in the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court this week.

Appearing before Mr Swain, SM, Paul Ploderer, 30, formerly of Adelaide, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (May 18) to charges of being in possession of a commercial quantity of abalone and being in possession of a quantity of undersize abalone.

Mr Ploderer was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment, which was suspended upon him entering an 18-month $100 good behaviour bond. He was also fined $9600.

The prosecution was a result of South Australian fisheries officers tracking a consignment of abalone, misrepresented as prawns, from a transport company in Adelaide to a transport depot in Queensland.

Mr Ploderer’s arrest resulted from a joint undercover investigation conducted by Primary Industries and Resources SA (PIRSA) fisheries officers in conjunction with Queensland’s fisheries agency that linked the consignment of abalone to the offender.

In handing down the sentence Mr Swain, SM said the offence involved a considerable amount of abalone and any penalty needed to serve as a deterrent to others. He noted that it was difficult for authorities to detect these types of offences and that it had the capacity to significantly impact on the abalone resource.

In total 1027 abalone (630 blacklip and 397 greenlip) of which 167 blacklip and 112 greenlip were undersize, were seized. The abalone weighed 143.4kg and had a wholesale value of more than $18,900.

The illegal buyer of the abalone in Queensland has also been successfully prosecuted pursuant to Queensland legislation.