A North-West man caught illegally fishing for whitebait six times in the same river in the same month has been hit with a record fine.
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The Inland Fisheries Service said Peter Mervyn Munday, of Mella, was caught fishing for whitebait at the Duck River six times in September last year.
The river was closed to whitebait fishing at the time.
Munday appeared in the Smithton Court on Wednesday.
He was sentenced on 28 charges relating to illegal taking of whitebait from the river during the month.
He was fined $23,798.
Inland Fisheries said that was the biggest individual fine ever imposed under inland fisheries laws.
"This penalty should serve as a warning to anyone choosing to disregard the strict regulations around the taking of whitebait," Inland Fisheries said.
It said the whitebait fishery had been "characterised by poaching and illegal sales" since it was closed in the 1970s (due to over-fishing).
"A limited recreational fishery was reopened in 1990 that allowed for a tightly controlled harvest with strict bag limits and waters that are rotated on an annual basis," it said.
"The illegal taking of whitebait, such as the actions of Mr Munday, has the potential to seriously jeopardise the future of this fishery.
It urged people who noticed or suspected illegal fishing activity in Tasmanian inland waters to report it on 1300 INFISH.
Inland Fisheries' latest annual report said 11 defendants were convicted of 56 offences in the magistrates court during 2018-19.
A further three were listed for court appearances as of the end of the financial year.
Infringement and conditional cautions were issued for 205 offences.
Court fines totalled $23,894 and infringement notice fines $17,583.
Six notices of disqualification from holding whitebait licences were current, and 8.5 kilograms of whitebait were seized during the year.
Nine of the 56 offences involved possessing freshwater crayfish.