A spearfisherman has sparked outrage after illegally killing a blue groper that divers had affectionately named ‘Gus’.
The fisherman on Saturday ‘triumphantly’ pulled the protected species from the Oak Park rock pool in Cronulla – a no-spearfishing zone in South Sydney.
Gus was a beloved fish among local divers and swimmers and was estimated to be about 35-40 years-old.
The blue groper has stood as the state’s official fish since 1996, carrying a protective status and laws stating the creature cannot be caught commercially or by spear.
Images of the man and his catch were posted to social media where one ‘angry’ local said ‘Gus deserved to live’ and questioned ‘who does that for fun?’
A spearfisherman has sent Cronulla locals into a frenzy after he killed a 35-40 year-old blue groper affectionately named Gus by divers and swimmers (pictured)
A second said he had been ‘trying to find that grouper for ages and now I’ll never get to see him’, describing the fisherman as an ‘a**hole’.
‘That poor beautiful fish… My husband is an ex-scuba diver and we both still snorkel. To have that amazing creature to swim with, now gone is beyond belief,’ a third commented.
Tenielle Piek, a local who saw the man pull the fish from the water, described blue gropers as the ‘labradors of the sea’ for their calm and curious temperament which makes them vulnerable to spear-fishers.
‘My mother was the first person to approach the man requesting to take his photo,’ Ms Piek told News.com.au.
‘He smiled and showed off his killing without realising it was a protected species.’
She said the community ‘fear’ for the local population of blue gropers and that future generations will not be able to experience them in their natural habitats.
The catch comes just a month after the fisheries division of the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) increased signage of the waters being a no-spearfishing area.
A spokesperon for the DPI said an investigation is underway into the photographs showing the man taking the the fish that ‘may have been illegally taken by spear’.
Images of the man are being investigated by the Department of Primary Industries after the man speared the protected fish in waters that restrict spearfishing
‘Groper are protected from commercial fishing and spearfishing, and can only legally be taken by line in NSW. For recreational fishers a minimum size limit of 30cm and a bag limit of two (with only one fish over 60cm) applies,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Maximum penalties by way of court prosecution for an individual are $22,000 and/or six months imprisonment for a first offence relating to size and bag limits, and $11,000 for taking groper by an unlawful method.’
According to the n Marine Conservation Society, ‘Threats to blue gropers are mostly from fishing and harvesting aquatic resources’.
‘Blue gropers are an important species for maintaining the balance in their ecosystem by controlling the numbers of other animals such as crabs and sea urchins,’ the website reads.
Another fisherman proudly posed with a Blue Groper he had speared about a kilometre west in Port Hacking in May.
The photo of the spearfisherman was taken by a local resident who was with her son who was also fishing.
The resident then went on to claim he ‘took off pretty fast’ once she informed him of the potential $22,000 fine for killing the fish.