Abalone hour: Fisher fined up to $1000 after trying to snatch 31 abalone, more than double legal bag limit

An overzealous abalone fisher who tried to take more than twice the legal bag limit of the prized mollusc was issued a hefty fine on Saturday morning. Hundreds of punters descended on the WA coastline for the third hour of the abalone fishing season, eager to have a crack at catching abalone across the West Coast Zone, extending from Busselton Jetty in the South West to the Greenough River Mouth in the Mid West. Fisheries officers from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development caught the fisher in Iluka in the metro portion of the zone, between Yanchep and Mandurah, with 16 extra abalone — despite the legal bag limit being 15 per licensed fisher. Penalties for bag limit offences range between $50 and $1000, and with more than double the bag limit deemed a serious offence, it likely placed the Iluka fisher’s fine at the top end of the range. That was just one of 24 fines issued to fishers exceeding the bag limit across the metro zone, while another 21 warnings were issued for being over the bag limit. More than 140 Surf Life Saving WA volunteers were also kept busy between 7am and 8am, with 56 rescues, 20 instances of first aid, and 663 preventative actions. There were 11 fines and 12 warnings for undersized abalone, plus two shucking warnings. The minimum size for Roe’s abalone is 60mm across the widest part of the shell and punters are not allowed to shuck within 200m of the beach. Three fines were also handed out for those without abalone fishing licences, which cost $50 per licence. And three fishers were warned for fishing outside the designated hour, while another two were warned over illegal fishing in the Marmion Marine Park. The fourth and final hour of the abalone fishing season is on February 15, pending conditions.