Man fined $5000 for possession of 275 paua

A Porirua man who had 275 paua in his freezers was fined $5000 when he pleaded guilty to their possession in Porirua District Court today.

Judge Jan Kelly was told Joseph Thomas Tobin had the paua packed in four separate bags stored in two freezers at his home last December.

Fisheries officers, acting on information received, found the paua after executing a search warrant at Tobin's home.

Tobin claimed several friends and family had dived for the paua but refused to name them or provide details.

Under fishing regulations, a person cannot take paua on behalf of others and there is also a recreational limit of 10 paua per person.

If more than 10 paua were stored in a freezer, the onus was on the fisher to prove they were taken legally.

MFish district compliance manager Ross Thurston said he hoped the sentence would be a lesson to greedy amateurs that the full force of the fisheries law would be used for people who breached fisheries rules.

"There is a limit of 10 paua per gatherer per day that can be taken so that there is enough paua for everyone to catch a decent feed today, tomorrow and in the future," Mr Thurston said.

- NZPA