Three people have copped hefty fines after being caught with 61 undersized crabs in the Peel region.
Yong Zhong Xiao, Shuangtao Liu and Yu Liu were all charged with possession of a totally protected fish in relation to the incident which involved Fisheries officers on November 26.
None of the trio appeared in Mandurah Magistrates Court on Tuesday, but all entered endorsed pleas of guilty.
The court heard authorities were called to the area in Coolup off Greenlands Road where the three had been scooping for crabs about 11am.
Officers found 62 undersized crabs in the boot of a vehicle being used by the offenders.
The size of the crabs ranged from 89-124mm.
The minimum legal size for blue manna crabs is 127mm.
The trio was also restricted to a maximum bag limit of 10 crabs.
All said they had planned to eat the crabs, and had not measured their catch.
The crabs were seized by Fisheries and returned to the water.
Xiao, Liu and Liu were all fined $500 plus court costs.
They were all also ordered to pay a mandatory additional penalty of $3050.
