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Inside the crackdown on a $23 billion black market
Black market fishing costs legal operators billions of dollars globally per year.
Australian authorities are cracking down on the industry, issuing large fines and crushing boats.
Authorities are looking to scale up their surveillance equipment to combat the issue.
He looks like an ordinary angler, but this 43-year-old man is anything but.
In the waters between Brisbane and Russell Island, he was caught poaching mud crabs and selling them in south-east Queensland.
"Mud crabs can retail anywhere up to $64 a kilo for high-quality, top-grade mud crabs," said Graeme Bolton, director-general of Queensland's Department of Primary Industries.
Last year, other seafood species such as threadfin salmon, molluscs and mulloway were uncovered at the man's house following a raid by fisheries officers.
Fisherman fined $10,000 and boat destroyed amid crackdown on illegal trend in Aussie waters
As one Aussie state continues cracking down on the illegal seafood trade, fishers are being warned they could lose their boats and face hefty fines.
A Queensland man was fined $10,000 after Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol (QBFP) officers uncovered an illegal seafood operation involving the sale of mud crabs, king threadfin salmon and mulloway.
The marine animals were taken from Queensland waters without the required commercial authority, QBFP said.
The man was targeted and surveilled by officers who suspected wrongdoing as part of their ongoing crackdown on the black market seafood trade.
Australia's illicit seafood trade is estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars annually.
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Australia Steps Up Fight Against Illegal Fishing
According to ABC News, Australian authorities are increasing enforcement against illegal fishing, an illicit trade that damages legal fishers and marine ecosystems. Globally, organised illegal fishing is estimated to cost legal fisheries up to $23 billion each year. The activity can include fishing in protected reserves, breaching catch quotas, using banned gear and international smuggling, and can be linked to labour exploitation, human rights abuses and trafficking of illicit goods.
In Queensland, a 43-year-old man caught poaching mud crabs in waters between Brisbane and Russell Island and selling them in south-east Queensland was convicted, fined $10,000 and had his boat destroyed. Fisheries officers had also found species including threadfin salmon, molluscs and mulloway at his home following a raid. Queensland Department of Primary Industries director-general Graeme Bolton said high-quality mud crabs can retail for up to $64 a kilogram, making them valuable, easy to transport and readily sold on the black market.
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