The increasing dishonesty of anglers about whether they hold a fishing licence is leading Fish and Game Otago to warn it will look at confiscating equipment rather than giving anglers the benefit of doubt.
Yesterday a recreational fisherman received fines and costs totalling $2415.78 for giving false information to Otago Fish and Game, and fishing without a licence.
Fish and Game Otago operations manager Ian Hadland said if an angler was found by a ranger to be fishing without a licence, but claiming they had one, they were asked to sign a declaration, accompanied by a warning about the implications of giving false information.
Anglers who lied about having a licence "increased the scale of the matter considerably".
If the dishonesty of the small percentage of anglers who fished without a licence continued to increase, Fish and Game would look at using its powers to seize gear on the spot rather than the current practice of rangers using their discretion and giving anglers seven days to produce it, Mr Hadland said.
It had already given special training to its rangers so they could detect when fishermen were trying to "pull the wool over their eyes", he said.
"We're more vigilant.
The number of cases of people having us on is increasing."
The recent case, which was unusual in the fact it went to a defended hearing, resulted in Fish and Game facing "significant costs".
"He [the offending angler] should have come clean to us on the day and I'd recommend others to think likewise."
The costs of bringing prosecutions was considerably higher than Fish and Game received in fines, but licence holders had high expectations that illegal anglers were prosecuted, he said.
