‘Cut-throat industry’: Crabber stole 19 pots for revenge
A Gladstone crabber told the court “there are no honest fishermen”, and he had to steal other people’s crab pots to compensate for his own stolen gear. Commercial fisherman Suny Platen pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court to five charges of unlawfully interfering with fishing apparatus, after being caught red-handed on April 14. Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officer Neil Conway said QBFP officers had stopped a boat at Gladstone Marina about 1.30am, and found Platen and two other men with 19 crab pots containing 14 live crabs. The pots and their floats were marked with commercial fishing symbols not belonging to Platen. Platen said crabbing was a “cut-throat industry,” and he acted after 22 of his own pots were stolen over two nights. “I’ve had my pots go missing, my car smashed … it’s a savage game,” he said. Read the story here 08:01
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