Wewei Zhou, 59, of Riverwood, pleaded guilty to possession and tracking offences in Milton Local Court last year and appeared in Bankstown Local Court for sentencing recently. 

Zhou was also found guilty of possessing 166 prohibited size abalone in circumstances of aggravation.

He was convicted and fined $3000 for this offence and directed to enter into a good behaviour bond for a period of three years, as an alternative to imprisonment.

The magistrate also fined Zhou $5000, reflective of some of the potential value of the product and ordered him to pay the Department’s professional legal costs of $5280.

Department of Primary Industries’ (DPI) Director of Fisheries Compliance, Patrick Tully said the penalties didn’t stop there. 

“The court ordered that the man’s vehicle, in which the abalone was found, be forfeited to the State,” he said. 

“The court then ordered the man pay the Department’s costs of $2070 for towing and storing the vehicle while the matter was determined.”

Mr Tully said the penalties send a clear message to those who choose to trade illegally in the State’s fisheries resources.

“We will stop you in your tracks,” Mr Tully said.

“You can lose your vehicle, or boat, on the spot. You can get a criminal conviction, receive significant fines, have costs awarded against you and risk going to jail all on a first offence,” he said. 

Zhou was charged in August last year following a covert operation.

“A total of 575 blacklip abalone were seized along with the man’s vehicle after authorities tracked the man illegally acquiring the abalone from the south coast of NSW,” Mr Tully said.

At 9:16pm on August 17, Wewei Zhou’s car was pulled over and searched by NSW Fisheries officers. They found he was in possession of 575 abalone and 166 undersized abalone. 

The car stop came following a surveillance operation to target the trafficking of abalone from the South Coast to Sydney. 

The 59-year-old said he bought the abalone from an unknown man; paying $35 per kilogram, totaling $1,500.

Zhou said the abalone were intended for personal consumption. 

Anyone with information on suspected illegal fishing activity is urged to call the Fishers Watch phone line on 1800 043 536. You can also report illegal fishing activity online through the NSW DPI Fisheries web page.