Exceed the limit at your peril, anglers told

The 80kg of rock lobster that commercial fisher Lewis Ngawaka failed to declare last year would have put a tidy and tax-free $1600 into his pocket.

However, instead of a handsome undeclared profit, Ngawaka now has a court record, a $3700 fine and faces losing his $80,000 fishing boat to the Government.

Ngawaka failed to declare some of the rock lobster he caught on his boat around Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

He was caught by a Ministry of Fisheries inspector during a routine patrol.

It was an expensive slip for Ngawaka, but as far as the ministry was concerned it was deceit.

Ngawaka was charged under the Fisheries Act, 1996, and convicted last month. His 13m fishing boat, Alice James 2033, was seized but returned until the outcome of the court case.

The court has yet to decide whether the boat will be permanently forfeited. If it is, it will be sold and the Government will take the money, ministry district compliance manager Ian Bright says.

Whatever the outcome, the ministry is happy the message is being sent to fishers.

For recreational fishers offending on the lower end of the scale there was a sliding scale of fines but there was no negotiation for offenders planning to sell commercially.

Not only can fishers lose their boat, they can lose their trailer and towing vehicle. Restaurants without documentation could also end up in court.

- NZPA