Fisherman lands hefty fine for marine reserve catch

A licensed fisherman has been handed a huge fine for taking fish and abalone from a protected marine reserve.

The beach at Verona Sands looking down Ninepin Point Reserve.

A LICENSED fisherman has been fined almost $15,000 for taking fish and abalone from a protected marine reserve in the state’s south.

In the eight-year-old fisheries case, Dong Keun Yoon was sentenced in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Wednesday by Magistrate Reg Marron.

The nine charges related to fisheries offences committed on February 2, 2011 at the Ninepin Point Marine Reserve at Verona Sands, in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel near the mouth of the Huon River.

Tasmania’s marine reserves were created to help safeguard the state’s unique marine life and habitats for future generations.

In 1991, Ninepin Point was one of the state’s first declared reserves.

Yoon pleaded not guilty to all charges, but was later found guilty at a hearing.

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Magistrate Marron said Yoon, along with another man, had taken 35 fish and more than 10 abalone from the reserve where no fish were permitted to be taken.

“You and your companion would have driven right past a sign, which would have at the very least alerted the divers to check whether the taking of fish was allowed in that area,” he said.

“As a licence holder, Mr Yoon was aware of the limits.”

Mr Marron said the abalone taken was so undersized “as to rule out the possibility of inadvertence or mistake.”

He said in considering the sentence he took into account Yoon’s age, health and personal circumstances.

Yoon had previously been in hospital with a lung infection and was unable to speak or attend court.

Mr Marron said he also considered the difficulty in detecting such offences, the lack of remorse shown by Yoon and his prior convictions for similar fisheries offences committed in 2007 and 2016.

Mr Marron imposed a global fine of $10,000 and a further $4900 was imposed as a special penalty for the charge of taking fish from a marine nature reserve.