Men arrested following chase at sea
Thursday 18 May, 2006

Two men have been arrested and will be charged with another two men for a range of fisheries offences involving the taking of abalone on Monday 15 May.

Local Fisheries Officers initially observed the four men in a boat off Cape Elizabeth, near Port Hughes on Yorke Peninsula. When the Officers intercepted the vessel as it returned to shore, two of the occupants got out of the boat while the other two turned the boat around and left the scene.

Fisheries Officers in an unmarked Fisheries vessel caught up with the boat and the men were directed to return to shore where they were both arrested.

During the attempted escape two catch bags were seen thrown over the side of the vessel.

Police divers from the Water Operations Unit later retrieved a number of bags found to contain large quantities of abalone meat.

An inspection of the contents of the bags revealed 270 abalone weighing 58.5 kilograms with a commercial value of more than $3,300. A total of 47% of the abalone was undersize.

A quantity of SCUBA diving gear, the boat and a trailer was also seized.

As part of the investigation, two houses have been searched resulting in the further seizure of dive gear and equipment.

Two of the men involved have separate pending matters before the Court in relation to the taking of abalone from the same area, and have recently appeared in court in answer to those charges.

The investigation is continuing.