Two men have been stung with fines totalling $3000 and stripped of a vehicle and fishing gear after trying to sneak excess paua away from Warrington.
Baihong He and Zhidan Liu previously admitted two charges under the Fisheries Regulations: taking more than three times the daily limit and taking undersized shellfish from the East Otago taiapure.
Because of overfishing in the area, Ministry for Primary Industries prosecutor Lisa Brown said, the Government was considering barring all recreational paua gathering in the area.
The defendants were stopped by Fishery officers at 10pm on December 3 as they drove along Warrington Beach.
When asked if they had paua, they produced a yellow plastic bag containing three.
Since 2010, the limit at the site has been halved to five in a bid to rejuvenate stocks.
After language issues arose, officers searched the vehicle and found a set of waders sewn into some gumboots.
In the garment, pushed right down into the boot area, were 32 more paua.
Thirty of the shellfish were undersized, despite the men having used a ministry-issued knife which had the minimum measurement marked on it.
''Quite obviously there was an attempt to conceal the paua,'' Ms Brown said.
He, when initially interviewed, said he was unaware of any restrictions on fishing in New Zealand, yet later he admitted he was aware of catch limits but unaware of the maximum for paua.
Judge Dominic Flatley said the fact He had lived in the country for the past 10 years and attended high school here was a ''relevant factor''.
It was on a school trip to Warrington, the court heard, when the defendant discovered there were shellfish in the area.
He said he planned to take his share of the paua back to his home in Christchurch to give to his fiance and her family.
Liu told officers he was going to put his in a soup for his pregnant wife.
He's defence counsel, Andrew More, said the experience left a bad taste in his client's mouth.
''He won't be fishing or eating paua again,'' Mr More said.
Though he claimed his client played only a ''supporting act'' in the offending, the judge said it was a joint enterprise and it appeared the catch was going to be split equally.
''In my view they were in this together.''
''This type of offending needs to be properly marked for good reason. The message needs to be sent to those who exceed limits ... that they will be dealt with reasonably harshly.''
He fined both defendants $1500.
Liu's counsel, Werner van Harselaar, said there were no exceptional circumstances he could raise to avoid his client giving up the property used in commission of the offence.
As a result, Judge Flatley made a forfeiture order for the defendant's 2006 Nissan X-Trail vehicle and his diving equipment.
