A commercial fishing company has been fined for fishing in Western Australia’s Ningaloo Commonwealth Marine Reserve.
The Federal Court fined South Australian company, Lucky S Fishing, $34,650 for illegal fishing in the WA reserve best known for itsmassive whale sharks that draw tourists from around the world.
The court also awarded costs of $45,000 against the company.
In his judgement last week, the Honourable Justice Foster concluded protection of the reserve was “a matter of considerable importance, and that the company should have made sure the operator of the vessel knew precisely where he could and could not conduct commercial fishing operations”.
In September 2010, aerial surveillance detected the vessel Nansei trawling within Ningaloo, where fishing has been prohibited since 1987.
Lucky S Fishing did not contest the civil proceedings, and the company agreed it failed to take reasonable actions, as the owner of the fishing permit, to ensure its skipper was aware of the Commonwealth marine reserve.
The ruling comes less than a month after the Federal Court fined a Queensland-based commercial fishing company $55,000 for illegal fishing in the Elizabeth and Middleton Commonwealth Marine Reserve.
