483 undersized crabs was confiscated from the Suva and Nausori Markets by the Ministry of Fisheries over the weekend.
Permanent Secretary for Fisheries, Craig Strong says awareness sessions have been held so many times in communities and villages so there should not be any excuse for people not knowing the crab size limits.
He says they will increase their presence in these locations and anyone caught in contravention of the law will be prosecuted.
Craig also stressed that the Ministry will not tolerate any type of threats from market vendors who have had their crabs or fish confiscated during operations.
Craig says their officers were verbally abused and even threatened with physical violence during the operation and he has stressed that this will not deter them from their mandate of protecting, sustaining and managing Fiji’s fisheries.
He says that if vendors are serious about selling undersized crabs, then they will certainly face the consequences when their officers come around during operations.
All crabs that were confiscated has been safely released to allow them to grow into harvesting size and also reproduce.
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