Five men standing trial accused of poaching thousands of dollars of abalone

A GROUP of fishermen illegally poached thousands of dollars worth of abalone because of cultural reasons, a court has heard.

A GROUP of fishermen illegally poached thousands of dollars worth of abalone because of cultural reasons, a court has heard.

Phillip Lincoln Timothy Dudley, 29, of Burton, and Greg Wanganeen, 28, Edgar Wanganeen, 25, and Robin Grant Wanganeen, 21, all of Point Pearce, faced the Holden Hill Magistrates Court on Thursday.

A fifth man, Scott O’Loughlin, 24, of Osborne, is also charged over the “joint criminal enterprise” but failed to attend court.

They are charged with one count each of trying to sell, purchase or possess a prescribed aquatic resource under the Fisheries Management Act 2007.

The species is a “priority” under state laws.

The alleged offences happened at Point Pearce, off the Yorke Peninsula coast, on December 30, 2011.

The court heard the five men, including two brothers, were caught with 370 Greenlip abalone (haliotis laevigata) in a sack aboard a dinghy.

The abalone weighed almost 44kg and had a wholesale value of nearly $25,000.

Prosecutors from the State Government’s Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) Department claim the haul was of a “commercial quantity” and 37 times the legal limit of 10 abalone.

They want the group banned from abalone fishing.

But the court heard the group of men did not “rape and pillage” the ocean, instead they fished the reef-dwelling marine snails for cultural reasons and to feed their families.

Court documents, obtained by The Advertiser, state that of those, 188 were “undersized” and weighed less than 113 grams.

They were also caught with a black spear gun and a wooden model and a 50L blue plastic bin.

The court heard the group was part of the Narungga people and had cultural reasons for fishing for abalone.

Giving evidence on behalf of the group, Klynton Wanganeen, 57, said the men had been taught how to fish and understood the “seriousness of depleting” and “wiping out” sea species.

Mr Wanganeen, of Port Adelaide, was related to most of the men and had grown up in the area.

“Our people don’t rape and pillage the sea,” he said.

Leading Flinders University academic Dr Amy Roberts gave evidence on behalf of the defence, in which she stated the Narungga people considered abalone culturally significant.

But under cross examination from Nicholas Manetta, for PIRSA, Dr Roberts, a senior lecturer in archeology, admitted her report had facts taken from a tourist information brochure and that she had not interviewed the men about their fishing habits.

Speaking outside court, Klynton Wanganeen, a consultant, criticised the case as a “waste of time”.

“Our people have always taken fish from the sea,” he said.

The men refused to comment.

The trial, before Magistrate Cathy Deland, continues.