Paul Arthur Warren fined for Great Barrier Reef breach
The captain of a fishing trawler failed to show up four times to answer a charge of taking his trawler through a protected part of the Great Barrier Reef near Lady Elliot Island.
Police & Courts
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A repeat offender fisherman who took his trawler into restricted waters of the Great Barrier Reef was fined $9000 by a Hervey Bay court this week.
Paul Arthur Warren was due to face magistrate Trinity McGarvie on Thursday morning but failed to show up.
Hugh Russell of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions said it was the fourth time Warren had failed to show in court, only appearing on the second occasion that his matter was listed.
He pleaded not guilty to three counts of operating a fishing vessel in a zone on the day he did face court on October 10, 2024, Mr Russell said.
Ms McGarvie said she was persuaded to proceed with the matter without the defendant’s appearance as he had sufficient notice of the proceedings.
Warren, who was 57-years-old at the time of the offence, was the master of a commercial trawling vessel called Millie Rose, which was last located at Coffs Harbour, NSW on January 13.
“Such vessels are only allowed to fish in general use zones of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park,” Mr Russell said.
The trawling vessel that Warren operated was permitted to anchor and transit all areas of the park except for preservation and scientific research zones.
Vessels passing through the park must use a direct and practical route through or to a place of anchor while maintaining a speed of 5kn.
On March 20, 2023, Warren’s trawler travelled in a northerly direction through a buffer zone and continued into a green zone, where fishing and collecting are not allowed without a permit, near Lady Elliot Island.
The trawler exited the exclusion area before turning around again and entering the same buffer zone only hours later.
On September 4, 2023, Warren declined to participate in an interview with marine park investigators after they found him to be taking an impractical route through the exclusion zones while also travelling at speeds under the 5kn minimum.
Mr Russell said the charge was not an allegation of fishing.
“It really is a lack of knowledge or maybe an intent to disregard these principles when there were three requirements,” he said.
This is not the first time Warren has committed an offence like this.
In 2011, his prawn trawler , the Crystal Enterprise, travelled 661m through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park’s most protected zone and was subsequently fined $2000.
The pink preservation area that he traveled through just over 13 years ago makes up less than 1% of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and has blanket restrictions for no extractive activities - and is a no-go area for the general public.
Warren was ultimately fined $9000, an additional $111.70 to cover the prosecution’s court costs, and a conviction was recorded.
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