Community
15 November, 2024
Illegal abalone poachers caught
WARRNAMBOOL fisheries officers responded to reports of a number of fishers taking abalone near the Passage at Port Fairy over the weekend.
The information came from the public through the 13FISH reporting line and from local commercial fishers.
Details of a vehicle were provided to officers, who observed the group driving through Warrnambool before intercepting the car at Allansford.
Twenty-seven blacklip abalone were believed to have been found in the boot of the vehicle.
The daily bag limit in Victorian waters outside of Port Phillip is five, of which only two can be greenlip abalone.
All of the located abalone were under the 13-centimetre minimum legal size for the Port Fairy area.
The four fishers were issued with infringement notices of $600 each for taking undersize abalone.
A Victorian Fisheries Authority spokesperson said “size and bag limits help keep our word-class fisheries healthy and sustainable and the vast majority of fishers do their bit and stick to them”.
“We thank the members of the public who rang 13FISH, and local commercial fishers, who provided valuable information to help protect our valuable abalone stocks,” the spokesperson said.
“Anyone who suspects or sees illegal fishing at any time, anywhere in Victoria, can ring our 13FISH (13 3474) reporting line to speak to a fisheries officer.”
For information on size and bag limits for abalone visit www.vfa.vic.gov.au/abalone.
