Two Northland brothers have copped fines totalling $8000 after they admitted harvesting more than 14 sacks of kina and selling them on the black market in Auckland.
Reo Rangipohewa Uerata, 37, and Douglas Phillip Uerata, 27, earlier admitted a charge of obtaining kina for a benefit and appeared for sentencing in the Whangarei District Court last week.
A woman they sold the seafood to in Auckland, Zelma Dawn Davis, was fined $3000 when she appeared in court on a similar charge on May 11.
The charge was laid under the Fisheries Act 1996 and carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail and or $250,000 fine. The daily limit for kina is 50 per person.
Judge John McDonald said the trio were identified during Operation Gull the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) ran from February to December 2015 into the black market dealing of kina and paua in Auckland.