Two men down on their luck in the current financial climate thought a day out fishing might help.

Instead it ended with them getting caught fishing unlawfully with a set net in the dolphin-friendly waters off the Abel Tasman National Park, catching more snapper than they were allowed and having more than the two fishing lines allowed under the rules.

One of them, Adrian Ace, has also had his powerboat confiscated, and an additional penalty of refusing to comply with fishery officers when he wouldn’t hand over his phone.

The 54-year-old orchard manager told the Nelson District Court that he didn’t want it to fall into the hands of others because of the private content stored in it.

Ace and his fishing buddy Daniel Robins, an exterior plasterer, had planned to plead not guilty to the charges brought by the Ministry for Primary Industries, as they claimed to have been genuinely caught out.

But, the pair, who were self-represented, changed their pleas after being allowed time to speak with the MPI prosecutor Julie Wotton.

Ace told NZME outside court he had not known the net he had bought to catch bait was indeed a 19-metre set net.

“I bought it as a bait net and it was packaged like that,” he said.

A set net is typically anchored to the sea floor with weights, and there are strict rules around their use. Wotton said in court that the net the men had did not meet the criteria of a bait net.

The pair claimed to have copped a fair bit of flak on social media, especially via a local fishing Facebook page, after they were caught by fisheries officers pulling up from the boat ramp at a bay near Kaiteriteri in February this year.

Adrian Ace said he and his fishing mate Daniel Robins had been the focus of unfair ridicule on social media after they had fished unlawfully in an area of Tasman Bay. They claimed it was a mistake that won't happen again.

Ace believed they were seen out on the water by a Department of Conservation regular patrol boat, which reported them to MPI.

Earlier on February 17, the pair drove from Motueka, towing Ace’s Smartwave boat, which they launched at Stephen’s Bay, near Kaiteriteri.

The area marks the southern boundary of the Abel Tasman National Park which is within the Challenger Fisheries Management Area.

Ace set a net near Adele Island, south of a marine reserve zone, but “well inside” the area closed to set netting.

MPI said evidence showed that fishing with a set net posed the greatest risk to dolphins from any fishing activity, particularly the nationally vulnerable Hector’s Dolphins.

The dolphins occur around the South Island in four genetically distinct sub-populations, one of which is in Tasman Bay.

MPI said that while knowledge of this group was poor because of its very small size, it was estimated that more than one fishing-related death per year would threaten the recovery of this sub-population.

The pair then set about fishing with lines and between them, caught 33 snapper. The daily limit in the area is 10 per person.

There were seven fishing lines on board when the maximum number allowed was two.

The summary of facts recorded that they saw dolphins while fishing, which Judge Jo Rielly said was relevant to the rationale around set net rules in the area.

Ace said in court he understood the risk posed to dolphins and in no way did he want to catch any.

When they arrived back on shore, they were stopped shortly after by a fishery officer who found the 19m long set net that had been used for fishing, the 33 snapper and seven lines with hooks attached, four of which were long lines.

Ace admitted setting the net near Adele Island, but only for bait and he believed it was allowed because “mates had told him”.

He also said only two of the fishing lines on the boat were used.

Robins told the court he “genuinely wasn’t aware” there were other lines on board as they were later found to be “all wrapped up on the boat”.

He also claimed they had been caught out by the rules, because it was the one day when they had caught “a few too many fish”.

“It was a mistake and it won’t happen again,” Robins said.

The following month, fishery officers attempted to seize Ace’s cellphone and SIM card they believed contained evidence of the offending.

Ace initially refused to comply but did eventually hand over a phone he said was the correct item.

It turned out it wasn’t, and the SIM card had been removed.

When officers returned to seize the correct phone, Ace refused to tell them where it was, or why.

Ace, who claimed to have been handcuffed at work, was arrested for failing to comply with a lawful requirement of a fishery officer.

He later told the court his reasons for refusing to hand over the phone, because of the private content he had on it.

He told Judge Rielly they had now been educated and hadn’t set out to break any rules.

The judge said the use of the set net was the most serious of the charges and raised why they had not looked up the rules before heading out.

In setting the fines, Judge Rielly acknowledged the financial struggles confronting each man.

Ace was fined a total of $2500 on all matters and Robins, $1150.

Forfeiture of the boat and equipment was automatic, with Ace given leave to apply for relief from the forfeiture within 35 days.

Outside court, he said his advice to others is “just don’t net”.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.