FOUR abalone poachers from the Kealba and Hillside areas have been convicted and fined more than $34,000 for poaching in the Point Cook Marine Sanctuary.
Three men, aged 48, 38, and 28, and one woman, 61, were caught poaching 750 abalone from the sanctuary where abalone and fish are protected. They were fined $7000 each and ordered to pay compensation ranging from $1092 to $2327.
“The Point Cook Marine Sanctuary is an area previously targeted by abalone thieves and Fisheries Victoria carries out regular tactical patrols of the area,” said Scott Falconer for Fisheries Victoria. “These people were all first-time offenders, but the fines indicate how seriously this illegal activity is taken.”
The four people, caught with more than 50kg of black-lip abalone meat, were convicted of trafficking a commercial quantity of abalone, possessing a priority species in a marine park and taking abalone between sunset and sunrise. The 38-year-old man was also convicted of hindering an authorised officer.
