A husband and wife have been fined thousands of dollars for catching dozens of undersized crabs in the Peel Inlet on New Year's Day. Mingfu and Lili Xue were convicted in their absence at Mandurah Magistrates Court on Tuesday, April 7, on charges of possessing undersized crabs and exceeding the bag limit.
Fisheries officers spotted the couple crabbing in Coodanup after 7pm on January 1. A search of their container revealed they had caught 63 blue swimmer crabs, with only one being the correct size. The total catch was 43 crabs over the legal limit, as each crabber is allowed to take 10 crabs per day.
During an interview with Fisheries officers, Lili Xue said she was not aware of the requirement to measure the crabs or that a bag limit existed. Magistrate Gavin MacLean described the pair as “incredibly naive.”
