Two men and a woman appeared in the Busselton Magistrate’s Court last week for flouting the abalone fishing rules.

The court was told Fisheries and Marine officers observed the trio near the water’s edge off the coast of Dunsborough on New Years Day.

On checking the catch, of one the offenders showed officers the 20 abalone he claimed to have caught that day.

A subsequent search of one of the group’s vehicles revealed an esky containing 213 fresh abalone.

The woman and one of the men admitted catching about half each. In the other vehicle officers found a further 106 abalone.

The accused were aware of the daily bag limit of 20 abalone per fisher per day and claimed they caught the abalone for their own personal consumption.

Hae Sook Hong Park, 50, and Mr Won Woo Cho, 45, both of Carlisle were each fined $1000, with an additional mandatory penalty of $2580 each, based on the number of abalone exceeding their possession limits.

They were also ordered to each pay $59.60 court costs and forfeit the excess abalone.

Jae Jin Park, 41, of Victoria Park, was fined $1000, with an additional penalty of $2880, and ordered to pay costs of $119.20 and forfeit the excess abalone.

Supervising Fisheries and Marine officer Kevin Johnson said the penalties were intended to protect the sustainability of the abalone fishery.

In another matter, two people were apprehended off the Dunsborough coast on Australia Day,. with 129 abalone of which 42 were undersize.

The men were charged with exceeding the daily bag limit and possessing undersized abalone.

Anyone with information about illegal fishing should call FISHWATCH on 1800 815 507.