A CASUAL chat on the Mangles Bay foreshore has landed a man more than a dive bag full of crabs after he was seen by Fisheries officers.
Philip Michael Wiseman sent an endorsed plea of guilty to Rockingham Magistrate’s Court on August 28 for contravening an order of the minister by recreationally fishing in Cockburn Sound.
The fisheries prosecutor said officers saw the man chatting to another man on the beach at Mangles Bay at 10.45am on March 2.
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READ NOWHe was wearing a wetsuit and holding dive gear including a catch bag.
He noticed the officers then began tipping the contents of his catch bag back into the water.
Officers shouted for him to stop several times before catching up with him.
When they did they saw blue manna crabs swimming away.
A witness had also seen a further two crabs in an esky in his car but Wiseman claimed to have caught them earlier in Warnbro Sound.
He told officers he was not aware there was no crabbing in Mangles Bay due to it being part of Cockburn Sound.
He said he intended to put them back when officers told him he could not fish in Mangles Bay.
Magistrate Vivian Edwards fined him $600 along with an additional penalty of $200 for the crabs.
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