Eather hooked in fishing sting

TASMANIAN fishermen to the stars Mark Eather has found himself back in court over further fisheries offences.

High-profile fisherman Mark Eather leaves the Supreme Court in Hobart after sentencing last year. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

TASMANIAN fisherman to the stars Mark Eather is back in court over further fisheries offences.

Last year, the high-profile fisherman was fined more than $177,000 and was permanently disqualified from holding any fishing licence in Tasmania after he pleaded guilty to trafficking rock lobster.

Eather, 59, has counted top chefs including Neil Perry and Kylie Kwong among his customers. He also sold rock lobster to Mona’s Source restaurant and the Agrarian Kitchen cooking school.

In Hobart yesterday, Eather appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Michael Daly in the Magistrates Court for offences committed in 2011.

Eather was charged with three counts of taking fish for sale without a fishing licence and failing to ensure supervised activity carried out under a licence complied with the Living Marine Resources Management Act.

A second complaint related to his processing about 140kg of abalone without the appropriate licence.

Up until February 2011, Eather had been operating under an exemption that allowed small-scale processing without a licence.

In September 2011, Tasmania Police conducted a covert operation where an undercover officer rang Eather pretending to be a Melbourne chef wanting to buy rock lobster, abalone and flathead for an event in Tasmania.

A couple of days later, in the early hours of the morning, police covertly entered a Dunalley premises where Eather’s stock was held and inserted tags into his lobsters.

When he handed over the produce requested by the undercover officer, the fish was scanned and the tags were located, the court heard.

Eather’s lawyer Roland Browne said they were “very minor offences” which occurred within his legitimate business dealings, with all fish purchased from licensed processors.

Eather pleaded guilty to the charges and received a total fine of $2000,

Eather said afterwards he could not believe the “extraordinary” lengths authorities had gone to over the past six years.