Illegal abalone haul uncovered
Wednesday 4th May, 2005

Two men have been charged with abalone related fisheries offences as a result of a call from an observant member of the public to the Fishwatch telephone service.

The men were detected by Fisheries Officers in an area north of Tumby Bay. 738 undersize abalone and 369 shellfish were seized in relation to the offences, all of which were allegedly removed from the intertidal zone.

In addition to this, a further 1,693 shucked abalone and 282 abalone in shell were also seized in relation to the offences.

Additional investigations, including the execution of search warrants in Adelaide, led to the seizure of a further 1,339 dried abalone from a premise that is allegedly linked to one of the defendants.

Penalties for this type of offence include a maximum of $60,000 and/or two years jail plus an additional penalty of five times the commercial value of the catch to a maximum of $30,000.

PIRSA Fishwatch Manager Compliance Operations, Paul Tatarelli said: "This type of illegal activity involves commercial quantities of fish and will continue to be actively pursued by PIRSA Fishwatch".

"Officers are concentrating on preventing the illegal catch of abalone and will continue to conduct both uniform and covert patrols at known abalone hotspots around the coast."

Members of the public are encouraged to report any suspected illegal fishing or suspicious activities to phone the 24 hour Fishwatch telephone number 1800 065 522.