Australian commercial abalone diver to face charges

Australia: A commercial abalone diver will face court after a surveillance operation revealed the man was in possession of hundreds of abalone, many of which were undersize.

The 48-year-old licensed abalone diver from the Illawarra, New South Wales (NSW), was approached by Industry & Investment (I&I) NSW Fisheries Officers at Mossy Point Boat Ramp, at Tomakin on the NSW South Coast, in January.

I&I NSW Fisheries Officers from the Statewide Operations and Investigations Group and District Staff carried out an inspection of the man, seizing the diver's logbook and 739 abalone. All the abalone were weighed and measured, with 60 allegedly found to be of a prohibited size.

All 739 abalone were returned to the water alive.

The man will be prosecuted for possessing a number of prohibited size fish. He is also expected to face a number of charges allegedly relating to log book offences under the

Fisheries Management (Abalone Share Management Plan) Regulation 2000. Licensed commercial abalone divers are regulated by strict quotas allocated to shareholders within the abalone fishery.