A Balclutha man has been stripped of his new diving gear after he was caught with more than triple the daily paua limit.
Lual Filo, a 21-year-old meat worker, was gathering the shellfish with his 45-year-old co-defendant Fale Pule at Kaka Point on February 8, the Dunedin District Court heard yesterday.
A member of the public was concerned by the size of their haul and called the local fisheries officer.
The official approached the duo as they were loading the blackfoot paua into their vehicle, "well away from the location in which they were gathered".
The defendants had 62 of the shellfish — the maximum is 10 per person.
Filo said he was aware there were restrictions on the size of the paua that could be removed but claimed he had no idea there was a limit on number.
The men said the haul was going to be transported to Auckland for Pule’s family.
As a result of the crime, the fisheries officer confiscated all the equipment the men had used: a fish tub, dive boots, dive mask, gloves and a net catch bag.
Counsel Chris Lynch said Filo was "reluctant" to give up the gear as it had been recently bought.
She told the court he had no previous convictions and was embarrassed to be in the dock.
"He’s a bit mortified," Ms Lynch said.
Judge David Robinson said such crimes were often easy to commit and difficult to detect.
The seriousness of the charge was reflected in the maximum fine of $20,000, he said.
Pule was fined $750 and ordered to pay court costs of $130 when he was earlier sentenced in the Manukau District Court.
Judge Robinson said he must impose an identical penalty on Filo.
He ordered all the equipment be forfeited to the Crown.
"People need to understand if they engage in fisheries offences everything they use in conjunction with that offence will be taken off them," he said.
