Ten times the bag limit of priority fish species or 100 kilograms of finfish fillets have been set as limits deemed to be a “commercial quantity” that would trigger a charge of fish trafficking for any person not authorised to be in possession of such a large amount of fish.

Department of Fisheries Strategic Fisheries Policy Manager, Nathan Harrison said the new offence would attract a fine of up to $400,000 for an individual or $800,000 for a body corporate and/or up to four years imprisonment. 

“This is the first time the option for a magistrate to impose a jail term has been used in relation to the illegal sale of recreationally caught fish in Western Australia,” Mr Harrison said.

“It will give Fisheries and Marine Officers (FMOs) another effective way of cracking down on black market fish trading in the State and it won’t require proof of a sale.  

“The priority species include Roe’s, brownlip and greenlip abalone, barramundi, coral trout, WA dhufish, baldchin groper, all rock lobsters and pink snapper. These are the popular, high value, fish species that are most likely to be involved in cases where individuals are in possession of very large quantities.”

In addition to the new fish trafficking rules, Mr Harrison said new regulations also came into force this month that have created a new tier of infringement fines to more effectively deal with mid-range offences without the need to take a matter to court, if the offender accepted the fine.

“Infringements are currently issued for a range of bag and possession limit offences and for taking totally protected fish – including under or oversized fish – and the new, second, tier of penalties will kick in when more than double the bag or possession limit is detected, or where the number of totally protected fish exceeds the bag limit,” he said.

“The outcomes of a tiered infringement system will deliver a swifter way of dealing with mid-range matters and reduce the time spent by FMOs compiling prosecution briefs, getting them back on patrol more quickly to continue monitoring the State’s fisheries.

“In the West Coast Region alone it has been estimated this measure will provide another 1000 hours of FMO time that can be spent in the field educating fishers and carrying out compliance checks, rather than preparing documentation for the courts.

“As with infringements issued now though, people who receive the new infringements, ranging between $200 and $1,000, still have the option of taking their matter to court if they choose to.”