A former Green Head man was today ordered to pay fines, costs and mandatory penalty,totalling more than $36,000 ($36,710), when he was sentenced in a Perth court. It is said that a 39 year-old Garth Adrian Dobney pleaded guilty late last month to two offences that occurred in March this year, when he was under surveillance by Fisheries and Marine Officers and involved in the illegal sale of more than 200 rock lobsters to another man.
In another case Vince Gangemi of Roleystone was given a fine, court costs and additional mandatory penalty, totalling $33,071.50, when he pleaded guilty and was dealt with in May this year, for failing to make a record of the lobsters purchased. Department of Fisheries’ Manager of Compliance and Regional Support John Looby said the two convictions had dealt with a significant black market transaction.
According to Looby the rock lobsters the offender sold were caught under a recreational licence in the two months prior to the illegal sale and today’s fines will be welcomed by both recreational and commercial lobster fishers who stick to the rules. But Dobney’s fine was not worth the deal of around $1500 he was hoping to get from the purchaser for the illegal sale.
It is said that this prosecution arose from information received from concerned members of the community. Looby said today’s court outcome was another example of successful compliance operations by the Department of Fisheries targeting illegal black market activities. He added that on Friday 6 November, in a successful conclusion to an operation focussed on black market abalone, a man was ordered to pay more that $100,000 in fines, court costs and additional penalties and was ordered by the magistrate to forfeit a vehicle, equipment and cash seized when he was apprehended.
