A Bellarine Peninsula man has been sentenced to six months imprisonment, a subsequent 12-month community correction order, an indefinite ban on dive and boat-based fishing and fined $2,000 after fisheries officers from the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) uncovered a range of offences including trafficking a commercial quality of abalone, running an illegal seafood business, and operating an unregistered boat.
The man in his 30s from St Leonards, who in 2017 was convicted of trafficking abalone, was sentenced this week in the Geelong Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to several fisheries and marine safety offences between August 2023 and December 2024.
VFA fisheries officers intercepted the man in September 2024 on Port Phillip while he was allegedly operating an unregistered boat, not wearing a lifejacket, or carrying his marine licence.
Officers then inspected the vessel and found 131 scallops allegedly taken by the man, more than the daily catch limit of 100.
In following days, fisheries officers executed a search warrant at his property and found he was unlawfully selling fish.
In sentencing the man, the magistrate noted the accused was before the court with not insignificant prior offending, including abalone trafficking, and had been given the opportunity in 2017 not to repeat offend.
The magistrate commented that being involved in such illegal commercial operations undermines attempts to regulate the industry and contributes to the depletion of stocks.
Ian Parks, VFA Director of Community Engagement and Major Crime, said the case represented an extensive investigation to disrupt and dismantle what was deemed to be deliberate and calculated offending over an extended period.
