A 35-year-old man has been remanded in custody, following a court appearance in Perth related to alleged commercial shark fishing offences.
Fisheries and Marine Officers arrested Fu-Hsin CHEN at Perth Airport in the early hours of this morning (Friday), as he was preparing to board an international flight to Taiwan.
Mr Chen is believed to have been living in Taiwan for the past six months and arrived in Perth on Sunday.
Fisheries and Marine Officers took this window of opportunity to formally charge him, in relation to the alleged seizure of approximately 10 tonnes of shark products from a commercial fishing vessel at Broome Wharf almost a year ago.
Mr Chen is the Owner/Manager of Shine Year Fisheries (Aust) Pty Ltd.
The company’s vessel “Fortune” was authorised to fish in the Shark Fishery off the Northern coast of WA.
Both Chen and his company are facing charges under Regulation 16B of the Fish Resources Management Regulations (1995).
Regulation 16B requires that commercial fishing boats only carry or unload whole shark. Sharks may however have the fins and trunks separated, although only the head and parts removed during gutting may be disposed of.
Northern Region Manager Peter Godfrey said Regulation 16B was in place to prevent the unsustainable practice of “finning”, where the high value fins are retained and the low value trunks are disposed of at sea.
“The demand for shark fins from markets in Asia has resulted in worldwide concern over the future sustainability of shark stocks,” Mr Godfrey said.
Mr Chen and Shine Year Fisheries are facing two charges each that carry maximum fines of $10,000 each.
If convicted Chen and Shine Year Fisheries would also face total mandatory penalties, ranging between $1million and $14million, for the quantity of fish that is involved in the case.
Mr Chen was remanded in custody until 7 July 2009.
