A fisherman who used an illegal net landed himself in court after Environmental Protection officers decided to prosecute him as a warning to others.

Mando Del Rosario was spotted using the prohibited monofilament gill net — which can entangle turtles and seabirds, as well as fish — on the shore line at Spanish Point Park in Pembroke and was reported to the authorities.

The 36-year-old pleaded guilty at Magistrates' Court last Thursday to using the device and was fined $100 for an offence which could have netted him a year in jail and/or a $5,000 fine. Fisheries warden Mark Moran told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner that Bermuda outlawed use of the invisible nets, mainly to prevent offshore gill net fishing.

He said individual use was not a big issue but added: "The point is we do want someone to be prosecuted for it and fined a small amount just so it becomes public knowledge."

Mr. Moran described the surface net as "an indiscriminate killer of fish". He said that in Bermuda amateur fishermen were only allowed to catch bait, i.e. fry, anchovies and jacks.

The net, he explained, doesn't target a specific fish. "It can get turtles entangled, seabirds. These nets will kill anything that gets entangled. These nets are not permitted in Bermuda at all."

The defendant, of Ewing Street, Hamilton, told Mr. Warner that the net was passed to him by a friend who was leaving the Island to return to the Philippines. "He didn't tell me it was illegal," he said.

Mr. Warner said the offence, which happened on April 15 this year, could have incurred substantial penalties.

But he added: "In the circumstances, I think our conversation here will have attracted enough attention and I'm going to impose a $100 fine on you."