<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A Cairns fisherman has been fined $12,000 for multiple offences including interfering with crab pots, prompting a warning from </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/queensland" rel="" target="_blank" title="Queensland"><span>Queensland</span></a><span> authorities.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Between May and July last year, the Department of Primary Industries' Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol (QBFP) officers allege they collected evidence of a fisher interfering with crab pots that didn't belong to him.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officers also allegedly found the man to have the rostrum of a sawfish - protected species in Queensland - and commercial gill nets he was not authorised for.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/judge-sentences-bryan-kohberger-to-life-in-prison-for-murdering-four-university-of-idaho-students/19886e7a-e274-4c31-8c41-ba0a4db1eb6c" target="_blank"><strong><span>'Less than human': Killer of four US uni students sentenced</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The boat was seized and forfeited to the state. It will be destroyed "due to its condition", the DPI said in a release.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>QBFP Manager Gregory Bowness said this prosecution should serve as a reminder to all Queenslanders that interference with crab pots was a serious matter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This man's poor decision to touch and interfere with other people's crab pots has cost him $12,000 and his boat," Bowness said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/fisherman-fined-12000-dollars-interfering-with-crab-pots-queensland/54f24fc3-3531-43e2-b721-c33dd8a83879" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Interfering with crab pots that don't belong to you is a serious offence under the Fisheries Act 1994. This includes pulling a pot out of the water – even if you do not remove any crabs."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple App Store</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>.</span></em></strong></div></div>