A FISHER has been fined $7,500 in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to going well over the Spanish mackerel catch limit on two occasions.
The offender was caught exceeding the recreational fishing limit of three per person, on two separate occasions, with 14 and 13 excess fish.
A Queensland government paper says Spanish mackerel are being overfished and the fishery is unsustainable. A new stock assessment found the species biomass was just 17 per cent of un-fished stocks.
Fisheries Queensland says its boating and fishing patrol uses a range of resources and techniques in detecting such offending, including checking market distribution points to monitor compliance for important species under a quota.
