Daniel Tipene Te Moananui, 46, admitted doing so, when he appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
He explained through his lawyer that he collected the shellfish at Kaka Point on November 16 as he had family coming to visit from the North Island.
The court heard a fisheries officer was watching when Te Moananui left the water holding a bag of pāua and stashed it behind a bush.
The officer asked to see what was in the bag and the defendant complied.
Inside were 56 pāua — the daily recreational catch limit for the area is 10.
Forty-five of the shellfish did not meet the required catch length of 125mm.
He had been diving with four others, but took the rap for the lot and said he was ‘‘very sorry’’.
Counsel Brendan Stephenson said his client knew the rules and understood why they were in place.
‘‘He doesn’t make any excuses,’’ the lawyer said.
‘‘He puts it down to a foolish mistake.’’
Te Moananui had helped return some pāua to the ocean, the lawyer said.
Judge Belinda Sellars, KC, accepted the defendant was ‘‘extremely remorseful’’ for his actions.
‘‘You were one of four, but it was you that made the decision to take that sack and conceal it in the way you did,’’ she said.
‘‘I can see you’re very embarrassed by this.
‘‘This is unlikely to happen again,’’ she said.
Judge Sellars fined Te Moananui $1050.
A summary from the Ministry for Primary Industries outlined that pāua was susceptible to overfishing due to its sedentary nature and coastal habitat.
Recently, there had been local depletion, partly because of increasing fishing efforts.
The 125mm minimum legal length was set to allow the shellfish to grow for three to four years to give them a better chance of successfully breeding in that time.
