A Nelson man has been fined $1500 for illegal whitebait fishing.
Harold Osmond, 71, had pleaded not guilty in Nelson District Court to using whitebait gear covering more than one third of the width of a stream.
It is his second conviction in two years for the same offence.
In the latest case, the Department of Conservation said Osmond was caught with a whitebait net and screens that covered the entire width of a creek off Westdale Road near Richmond.
DOC says the practice does not give whitebait a chance and ruins the fishery.
