From the Minister for Agriculture

Friday, April 4 2008

DODGY FISHING LICENCE COSTS COBURG MAN $2000

A Coburg man has been fined $2000 after presenting a deliberately backdated fishing licence to Fisheries officers at Queenscliff in November last year.

The Geelong Magistrates Court was told the man was fishing at Queenscliff when Officers
requested to see his recreational fishing licence.

He told them he had a ‘fishing licence’ but was not carrying it at the time.
He was then directed to produce the licence within 7 days. He subsequently produced a licence to Fisheries staff that had been deliberately backdated.

He was then charged with providing false and misleading information and fishing without
authority and fined $2000 as an aggregate penalty.

Fisheries Officer, Brad Smith, said backdated fishing licences are relatively easy to detect and warned fishers they face stiff penalties for using them.

In the same court two men were fined $2500 each for abalone stealing offences.
The men, one from East Geelong and the other from Whittington were intercepted at Bancoora beach in October last year.

Officers found 23 abalone in the boot of their vehicle, of which nine were undersized. The
abalone were taken during a closed season and after sunset.

Members of the public who see illegal fishing activities are urged to call the 24 hour reporting line, 13 FISH (13 3474).