Posted by on April 11, 2005 at 00:33:10:
In Reply to: Abalone poacher gets fine, probation posted by on April 11, 2005 at 00:31:01:
SAN MATEO, Calif. An abalone poacher has been sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay a five-thousand-dollar fine.
Yiting Zhu pleaded no contest last week to illegally taking 20 abalones from near Año Nuevo State Park of the San Mateo County coast.
Authorities say they hope the sentence will deter others from raiding the diminishing stock as the abalone season gets under way.
Only recreational divers are allowed to harvest the popular delicacy from the sea --- and only north of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The state limits the number that divers can take to three a day. California banned commercial harvesting in 1997.
Zhu was caught in November of 2003 near Franklin Point when a Fish and Game warden found the abalone in the trunk of his car.
He was initially charged for commercial poaching, which carries a maximum penalty of 40-thousand dollars and a year in jail. The man pleaded to the lesser misdemeanor of abalone possession.