A fisherman who allegedly illegally speared a beloved blue groper before proudly posing with the fish in his bloodied wetsuit has been fined and questioned by police.
The fisherman, 26, was fined just $500 for spearing the protected species from the Oak Park rock pool in Cronulla – a no spearfishing zone – in Sydney’s south on Saturday.
The tiny penalty comes despite the act angering locals with the fish, affectionately known as ‘Gus’, having lived in the area for decades.
And because the penalty does not require the fisherman to appear in court, his name has not been publicly released.
Mystery also surrounds the fate of the fish after NSW Police said officers had been unable to locate the body and said they believed it had ‘been returned to the water’.
The 26-year-old unnamed spearfisherman with Gus, the beloved blue groper, which had lived around Cronulla for about 40 years before he was killed last Saturday
Danny Greig posted this photo of himself diving with Gus the groper off Oak Park, saying the fish ‘loved the company of the hundreds of divers’ who frequented the waters
Divers from the area, however, seemed sure Gus is dead and posted tributes to ‘the amiable blue groper’ which had lived in the area for at least 35 years.
A photo of the fisherman shows him carrying Gus and heading away from the shoreline long before the police caught up with him and were told the groper had been ‘returned to the water’.
‘You were more than just a diving buddy,’ one wrote on social media while another called the fish an ‘adored gentle marine giant’.
Despite spear fishing of blue groper being prohibited and the maximum penalty being $22,000 and/or six months in prison, the 26-year-old man was fined just $500.
Officers from the NSW Police Marine Area Command were called to Oak Park around 5pm last Saturday following reports of a ‘Blue Groper fish allegedly being killed by a spearfisherman’.
Tenille Piek, of Lilli Pilli, who along with other scuba diving members of her family have swum with Gus at Oak Park for up to 30 years, witnessed the distressing moment alongside outraged locals.
‘The man pulled the groper out of the water triumphantly,’ Ms Piek said.
‘My mother was the first person to approach the man requesting to take his photo.
‘He smiled and showed off his killing without realising it was a protected species and could be fined.’
After police spoke with the spear fisherman, and failed to locate the fish, they issued him with the penalty notice.
It is not known what then happened to Gus, who is estimated to have been at least 40 years old.
In a 2015 incident, at Tura on the NSW south coast, fishermen who speared a groper kept the fish, pretending they caught it on a line, but were fined when fisheries inspectors found ‘a spear wound’ on the groper’s body.
Devastated social media users took to Facebook to vent their fury at the man who had caught Gus.
Others posted photos of themselves diving with Gus, one man saying the fish ‘loved the company of the hundreds of divers who frequented Oak Park’.
The spear fisherman heads away from the shore with Gus in his arms, but by the time police caught up with him there was no sign of the fish and police were told it was ‘returned to the water’
Tenille Piek, above swimming with Gus at Oak Park where the beloved marine giant let people hand feed him, said the spearfisherman had pulled the fish from the water ‘triumphantly’
Abyss Scuba Diving also posted a blog post dedicated as a ‘heartfelt tribute to Gus’.
‘You were a true companion, joining me on countless dives,’ the tribute read.
‘Your untimely demise on December 30, 2023, at the hands of a spear fisherman has left us devastated.
‘Let’s honour Gus’s memory by celebrating the beauty of the underwater world he was a part of.’
In March last year, Tenille Piek told the Sutherland Leader that the ‘gorgeous bright blue fish’ was well-known to other divers and swimmers including the ‘Jellybeans’ – a local swimming group.
Ms Piek had been distraught when she saw that a large blue groper had been speared at Hungry Point, south-east of Oak Park, and feared it might have been Gus.
Ms Piek said she had then been ‘thrilled’ to see Gus when diving a few days later and he was ‘as friendly as ever’.
‘Blue Gropers are the “Labradors of the Sea”,’ she said. ‘They are tame and fearless, which makes them very vulnerable.
‘Gus lets you hand feed him sea urchins, and it is a privilege to experience these encounters.’
Ms Piek said she feared for future generations.
‘We genuinely fear our children will not get to experience these beautiful creatures in their natural habitat at the shores of Cronulla,’ she said.