Godwin Aquilina fined for throwing fish onto concrete

A man who was fishing in Portarlington has been fined for throwing a fish onto concrete.

Fishing from Portarlington pier. FILE PICTURE

An Altona North man who was fishing in Portarlington has copped a fine for damaging a fish after he threw it onto the concrete, instead of back in the water.

Godwin Aquilina, 50, pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Friday to abusing or insulting an authorised officer and failing to immediately return a fish without damage, and was fined $500 for the offence.

The court heard Aquilina was fishing the Portarlington boat ramp on November, 27 2022 when he was asked by a fisheries officer to show his recreational fishing licence.

Aqualina told the officer he didn’t have a hard copy of his licence, however, officers from the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) were able to identify him online.

About 15 minutes later, Aquilina was seen catching a fish and attempting to throw it 5m across the concrete platform to the water.

A prosecutor for the VFA said this resulted in the fish landing hard on the concrete before falling into the water.

“In taking this action the man failed to return an unwanted fish with the least possible injury or damage…he could have prevented this offending by going to the edge and dropping it in the water,” he said.

The court heard officers wanted to speak to Aquilina and asked him to provide some personal details.

Aqualina became agitated and was verbally abusive because he said he had given them his information about 15 minutes earlier.

Aqualina’s lawyer said her client just wanted to be left alone to catch some fish and was annoyed he had to recount his name and address again.

Magistrate Franz Holzer fined him $500 for the offence. No conviction was recorded.

Originally published as Godwin Aquilina fined for throwing fish onto concrete