Officer poses as chef, rock lobsters wired, in illegal trafficking investigation

A jury has heard a police officer posed as a chef and tracing wires were inserted in rock lobsters, during an investigation into illegal trafficking.

A Tasmanian fisherman has pleaded not guilty to illegally trafficking about 620 kilograms of rock lobsters. (ABC News: Ninna Milikin)

Tasmania fisherman Mark William Eather has pleaded not guilty to illegally trafficking hundreds of kilograms of rock lobster.

Eather is accused of trafficking in about 620 kilograms of rock lobster between January and October 2011.

The crown alleged in its opening statement that Eather was not licensed to have such large quantities of the highly controlled fish.

The crown told the jury that Eather allegedly sold 20 rock lobsters to a Tasmanian undercover officer posing as a chef, and that police had secretly inserted tracing wires into lobsters they had allegedly found in Esther's Boomer Bay factory.

Police launch covert operation in fish factory

The crown said police secretly entered a Boomer Bay fish factory used by Eather, and inserted tracing wire into 24 of the live lobsters they found there.

They had been trained how to insert the wire, and although the wire was so small it was virtually invisible to the naked eye, it caused a monitoring machine to beep when scanned.

The crown alleged some of the 20 lobsters it claimed Eather supplied to an undercover police officer posing as a chef "beeped" when scanned.

Eather's lawyer said the 55 year-old was simply running a legitimate business.

He told the jury the charge of trafficking was usually reserved for illegal drug and firearms dealers, who did not tend to send invoices as his client did.

He told the jury they also needed to look at the advice that was given to Eather by the Fisheries Department.

The crown told the jury Eather sold rock lobsters to restaurants in Tasmania and Melbourne, including Mooralla at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).

Rodney Dunn, who runs the Agrarian Kitchen paddock-to-plate operation in Lachlan in the Derwent Valley north west of Hobart, told the court that he sourced his seafood from the accused.

Mr Dunn said he knew of other high-profile chefs like Neil Perry, who runs Rockpool in Sydney, and celebrity chef Kylie Kwong, who had used Eather for seafood supplies.

He said he felt Eather's seafood was of "exceptionally high quality", and one of the reasons was the way he killed his seafood, including the humane method of a spike between the eyes.

Mr Eather said he also understood Eather was an advocate for sustainable and ethical fishing.

The jury was told the trial of the 55-year-old is expected to last up to three weeks.

Source : ABC News    Edith Bevin   11th June 2015