Mark Holt, 51, from Scampis Marina Seafood Restaurant was convicted in Port Macquarie Local Court on Monday of three offences under the Fisheries Management Act 1994.

The Port Macquarie man was fined for failing to pay a fishing fee for a recreational licence, unlawfully using a trap to take fish and taking more fish than the prescribed daily limit.

Magistrate Wayne Evans said Holt was in a special position of trust and responsibility in the community.

“Profits can be readily made in this area, in seafood, and this court must protect the limited stocks,” he said.

Solicitor Matthew Lindeman said Holt had borrowed a “tinny” boat and some crab nets and pots to catch the crustaceans for his family to eat.

“It was a long weekend,” he said. “He had a family function on the Monday and he was cooking it for them. He had taken them from the river in error.”

Mr Lindeman said Holt was of excellent character and heavily involved in the local community.

“He’s got no criminal antecedents. It was ignorance on his part, but that’s no excuse,” he said.

According to facts tendered to the court, fisheries officers conducted a routine inspection of Scampis Marina Restaurant just after 8pm on June 7 last year.

The officers discovered seven cooked mud crabs in the kitchen.

Holt told the officers he had caught the crabs in the Hastings River using three crab traps.

He was fined $1000 for not paying a fishing fee, $250 for taking more than the proscribed limit and $150 for unlawfully using a trap.

District fisheries officer Lee Burdett said the bag limit for mud crabs was five per person, per day, and recreational fishers were limited to one crab trap each.

“We are coming into crab season now and the Hastings River is a particularly good river for catching them,” she said.

“We’d like people to be aware of what their obligations are.”

Information about recreational fishing and bag limits can be obtained by calling the Port Macquarie office of the NSW Department of Primary Industries on 5524 0600.