Reported in today's (Friday) news.

An Auckland fisherman has been sentenced for what is being described as the largest-ever recorded breach of the daily recreational snapper limit.

Loseli Utumoengalu was sentenced to 320 hours community work for taking 325 snapper.

The 43-year-old Three Kings man had pleaded guilty to taking more than his daily recreational allowance of snapper and admitted intending to sell his catch.

The maximum penalty is five years in prison or a fine of $250,000.

At the time of the offence the daily recreational allowance for snapper for the northeast North Island was nine per person per day. It is now seven per person per day.

*** I looked at the price of Gurnard in the supermarket today, $30.00 a kilo for fresh fillets. It's little wonder some less than reputable individuals are using fish to make easy money.