Albany fishing boat master fined after taking two great white sharks and posing for ‘celebratory’ photos

An Albany commercial fishing boat master has been fined $19,800 and had his fishing license suspended after taking two great white sharks, posing with them for “celebratory” photos and trying to cover up the act. James Stuart Tindall pleaded guilty to taking a totally protected fish and making a false or misleading statement to a Fisheries officer in Albany Magistrate’s Court today. Tindall’s co-accused Tyrone Leigh Harding, a deckhand on the commercial fishing boat, was fined $12,500 in Albany Magistrate’s Court on March 4, after pleading guilty to one charge of taking a totally protected fish. State prosecutor Nicholas John told the court that Tindall and Harding pulled two dead great white sharks onto their boat after they became entangled in the vessel’s gillnet on the night of April 27 and morning of April 28, 2019. Once the sharks were on deck, the pair posed for “celebratory photographs” and videos with their carcasses, before removing their heads and fins, Mr John told the court. Mr John said the pair kept one of the shark’s jaws as a “memento” which was preserved and displayed in Harding’s home. The whereabouts of the second shark’s jaws remained unknown, Mr John said. Department of Primary Industry and Regional Development officer’s discovered the fins of the sharks in the Kalgan River in May 2019. The discovery led to an investigation and the seizure of the men’s phones, which contained photos from the incident. Mr John said when questioned by DPIRD officers, Tindall “omitted the fact he had taken and slaughtered two great white sharks”, making a “deliberate attempt to obfuscate the truth” and “cover up offending”. “This is not the way someone who is sorry deals with taking the sharks,” Mr John told the court. In an interview with DPIRD officers, Tindall said: “I’ve done something I shouldn’t have” and “you will find some photos on there that are not good.” Tindall’s defence lawyer told the court the fishers tried to untangle the sharks before bringing them on board. They took photos of the sharks to measure their size and removed their heads “in line with procedure”, he said. Tindall’s defence lawyer said the sharks were too heavy to return to the water. He said fishing had been his client’s life since the age of 16 and he “didn’t know anything else”. “He was swept up in the moment and made a bad decision,” the defence lawyer said. After adjourning proceedings to read through several character references about Mr Tindall, Magistrate Tanya Watt said he was clearly “highly regarded’ in the local industry, but the State’s case was “overwhelming”. “The material before me describes someone who is otherwise a community-minded person,” she said. She said despite the references, the offences were serious and the photos taken by the pair with the dead sharks were “clearly a display of disrespect” and “quite appalling”. She said as master of the vessel Tindall had “total authority” over the matter. Ms Watt said this was exacerbated by “the covering up behaviour which in my view was deliberate and intentional”. “Commercial fishing needs to be seen as a privilege,” Ms Watt said. Tindall’s commercial fishing license was suspended for 10 months. Speaking to the Advertiser after the verdict, DPIRD regional compliance director Russell Adams said he was pleased with today’s outcome. “This serves as a reminder to fishers that there are significant penalties, which apply for the illegal take of this protected species,” he said. “It is also a significant result in this case that the commercial fisherman has received a 10-month licence suspension. “Fishing commercially in WA is a privilege and those who abuse that privilege risk losing the right to fish.”