Dale Robson Simmons, a 36 year old manager of Cervantes Country Club, was ordered to pay a total of $6436.20 as fine, mandatory penalty and courts costs for an offence committed in April this year. The verdict was given by the Jurien Bay Magistrates Court on Thursday.
It is informed that the Fisheries and Marine Officers had conducted an inspection at the Cervantes Country Club, on Monday 20 April, where they found two boxes containing 44 tail-clipped western rock lobsters – 20 had been cooked, a further 24 were uncooked. Midwest Region Compliance Manager Robert Bogumil said tail clipping was a requirement for recreationally-caught western rock lobsters.
According to Bogumil the sustainability rules, which guarded against the potential sale of rock lobsters that were caught recreationally, were important to fairness and equity and prevention of the uncontrolled exploitation of lobster stocks. Department of Fisheries prosecutor Brendon Bellottie told the court the club’s manager had failed to provide records for the 44 rock lobsters, which breached a regulation that required a person who purchased or received fish for commercial purposes to ensure that records were kept.
Bogumil said that the magistrate was provided with the evidence in the case and Simmons was fined $100 for the offence of not keeping the required records. He added as the offence was proved, the offender was also given a mandatory penalty equal to 10 times the prescribed value of the 44 western rock lobsters. That led to a penalty of more than $141 for each of the rock lobsters involved, signs off Bogumil.
