A fishing company has been given a record fine for a discharge of oil into Tasmanian waters.
Australian Longline was fined $40,000 and the captain of its boat, the Janas, was fined $5,000.
The ship spilt 400 litres of diesel into the River Derwent on November 5, 2015.
The previous biggest fine given to a company in Tasmania for the same offence previously was $9,000.
The Hobart Magistrates Court heard the spill created a 400-metre slick in an area inhabited by the endangered spotted handfish and Derwent sea star.
The spill occurred while the boat was refuelling at Hobart's Macquarie Wharf Number 3.
Tank bung left out
Magistrate Simon Cooper found the crew had failed to put the bung into the tank, which is designed to catch any spillage.
"I accept this offending is not the worst of its type, however a simple basic precaution could have prevented the offence for occurring in the first place," Mr Cooper said.
There's no evidence of actual environmental harm, but the potential of harm was present and is the reason for such legislation."
The maximum penalty for the offence is $397,500 or four years jail for the individual and $1.59 million for a company.
"The penalties just show how seriously Parliament views offences of this type," Mr Cooper said.
The court heard the Tasmanian-based international fishing company fished in some of the world's most environmentally sensitive waters.
Including Macquarie Island and Antarctica and has plans to expand into waters off South America, South Africa, New Zealand and the United States.
Australian Longline leased the Janas from New Zealand company Talley's after its toothfish quota doubled in 2015, and as part of that agreement its crew were largely from New Zealand.
The court was told the agreement made Australian Longline and not Talley's responsible for the spill and that the Tasmanian company had to pay tens of thousands of dollars to indemnify Talley's after the spill.
