Fisheries investigators to charge Lygon St restaurant owner after raid uncovers illegal whiting and calamari

Investigators will allege a Lygon St restaurant had its fridges stuffed with illegally sourced whiting and calamari.

The owner of a Lygon St restaurant is expected to be charged over allegations he sold fish caught by shonky recreational anglers.

The owner of a Lygon St restaurant is expected to be charged over allegations he sold fish caught by shonky recreational anglers.

Victorian Fisheries Authority investigators raided a Carlton restaurant where they found freezers stuffed with 25kg of illegitimate King George whiting and 58kg of calamari.

Fisheries director Ian Parks said the agency would allege the fish and calamari had been caught by recreational anglers, in breach of the Fisheries Act.

Lygon St in Carlton. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

“It will be alleged a document to account for the whiting was falsely created by a seafood wholesaler at the request of the restaurant,” Mr Parks said.

The wholesaler is also expected to face charges.

The raid followed the seizure of a small orange fishing boat at St Leonards, after investigators spotted three retrieving their boat, drive home with a haul of whiting, and then relaunch their boat at the same spot.

The bag limit for King George whiting is 20 per person.

Fisheries officers searched the home and will allege the three men had taken 68 whiting that day, with one of the anglers reeling in 38.

The bag limit for King George whiting is 20 per person.

The fish, the boat, and the men’s fishing gear was seized on the spot.

The investigators’ inquiries led them to the Lygon St restaurant.

Mr Parks said recreational anglers should know it is illegal to sell their catch.