Fisheries (Amateur Fishing) Regulations 2013, regs 12, 18, 19; Fisheries Act 1996, ss 232, 254; Criminal Procedure Act 2011, s 375
Fisheries officers will bring criminal charges against you in the District Court if you take more than three times the allowed daily limit for amateur fishing – for example if you take more than 30 pāua in most parts of the country. (Smaller amounts over the amateur limits are dealt with by an infringement notice, (see above).
If you’re convicted, the penalty will usually be a $1,000 fine. But if you’ve taken a very large number – 80 to 100 pāua for example – you’ll usually be fined $2,000. Usually the fisheries officials will charge you under the amateur fishing regulations, and in that case the maximum fine is $20,000. However, fines near that maximum are given out only in the most serious cases, when the numbers you’ve taken are very high or you’re a repeat offender, or both.
Fines given by judges for fisheries offences are particularly high compared to some other types of criminal offences. This is because the fisheries laws specifically require judges to provide a deterrent – both for the particular defendant and for other people.
In serious cases involving very large numbers over the daily catch limit, or selling illegally caught fish, the fisheries officials may decide to charge you under the Fisheries Act rather than under the amateur fishing regulations. The maximum penalties are then much heavier, and include community-based sentences like community work, and jail in the most serious cases (see below).