Amateur fishers warned:

Amateur fishers heading out on the water this summer are being warned to stick to the rules — or risk losing their boat!

Ministry of Fisheries' Auckland District Compliance Manager, Ian Bright, issued the warning while surveying more than half dozen trailer boats currently in the Ministry's possession as a result of offences committed earlier this year.

'The forfeiture of a vessel — and of all the fishing gear on board — is usually automatic upon conviction for a serious breach of the rules,' he says.

The Auckland branch of the Ministry currently has several boats, worth up to $60,000, waiting to be sold.

Mr Bright stresses that, while he is not trying to alarm 'Mum, Dad and the kids' who inadvertently commit a minor offence while fishing, he is sending a strong warning to the 'fish thieves'.

'We are talking about people who deliberately set out to take far more than their legal entitlement, hide fish in secret compartments and often plan to sell their catch when they return to shore.

'One of these boats belonged to a man who had hidden nearly 200 snapper under the squabs in the cabin. His boat was so over laden with illegal fish that he and three of his mates could hardly get it up the ramp!

'These people are basically quasi-commercial or 'shamateur' fishers and are, in effect, stealing from those who go fishing and do abide by the rules.

Mr Bright urged those fishers who are not sure of the amateur fishing regulations to pop into a Ministry office or a tackle or bait shop and pick up a fisheries pamphlet.

'You're not going to lose your boat if you've just taken one or two fish too many. But you could lose your entire catch and be pretty embarrassed in front of your family and friends if you are checked at the boat ramp and you have deliberately broken the law,' he says.