St Albans duo arrested for abalone trafficking
by Georgie Selman 4 Jul 2018 05:27 UTC
Abalone trafficking © Georgie Selman
Fisheries Investigators arrested a man and woman in St Albans yesterday following the execution of a search warrant with Victoria Police as part of a four-month investigation into the illegal trafficking of abalone and rock lobster.
Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) Acting Supervising Investigator, Peter Watson, said the search of a St Albans house allegedly detected 175 shucked abalone. An additional commercial quantity, greater than 100 abalone, were earlier seized during the investigation.
"The man and woman, aged 28 and 33, were taken to the Sunshine police station for questioning and charged with trafficking a commercial quantity of abalone, which is a priority species in Victoria," Mr Watson said.
"The pair were bailed to appear at a later date in the Sunshine Magistrates Court and face maximum penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment.
"During the search warrant, Fisheries Officers seized commercial quantities of abalone, lobster tails, measuring scales and a quantity of cash."
Mr Watson said the VFA will allege the pair used social media to facilitate the illegal sale of abalone and lobster.
"Our Intelligence Officers conduct routine monitoring of multiple social media platforms, and in this case, discovered a significant number of individual posts listing abalone for sale.
"Unauthorised taking and selling of this priority species threatens the sustainability of the fishery and jeopardises legitimate take by recreational and commercial fishers.
"The VFA will continue to detect, disrupt and dismantle organised illegal fishing activity as a priority.
"Investigators and Fisheries Officers are dedicated to exploring all avenues and technology to investigate offences and protect our fisheries resources."
Anyone who sees or suspects illegal fishing, including the unauthorised sale of recreationally caught fish and shellfish, can report it to our 24-hour reporting line 13FISH (133 474).