Scallops
A licensed Victorian scallop fisherman and his company have been fined $20,000 for serious breaches of the industry’s strict laws. A Melbourne magistrate today also convicted Christos Melas and Lefkas Seafoods Pty Ltd after each pleaded guilty to failing to declare more than $500,000 of scallops he had taken. Melas, 62, of Middle Park admitted he had not completed a “catch and effort” return - a legal requirement under the quota system - to authorities for a 28,000 kilogram haul. Ian Parks, for the Department of Primary Industry, told Melbourne Magistrates Court that Melas also later unlawfully received another 5200 kilograms of scallops worth $93,000. Melas owns four scallop licenses, worth up to $55,000 each, a $100,000 boat and is a 30-year veteran of the industry. Mr Parks said under the quota management system, an annual allowable catch is set for the state’s 94 licenses. He said Melas last year submitted a “nil catch and effort return” for his licenses, saying he had not used them between April 2005 and May 2006. Despite this, his boat did five scallop trips in October and November last year, landing 28,000 kilograms. Mr Parks said that Melas also arranged with another registered boat to consign scallops to his company, but Melas asked the boat operators to nominate Peninsula Seafoods Pty Ltd - which his brother managed - as the receiver. Defence lawyer Nicholas Xervos said failing to renew the license was an “administrative oversight” and that Melas did not intend to deceive or deny the State government its $1200 per-license fee. Mr Xervos said Melas, who is now retired, had not exceeded the quota in the catches and had relied on the skipper of the boat to complete the forms. Magistrate Jane Patrick said she was “deeply skeptical” about the circumstances, but accepted there may have been an oversight, but decided there had not been one over filing the “nil” returns. Ms Patrick said that using his brother indicated that Melas knew he should not or did not have the authority to act that way. Melas and the company, which have no prior convictions, pleaded guilty to receiving fish without authority, while Melas pleaded guilty to two other charges. Each was fined $10,000 with $650 costs.