Fish & Game chief executive Martin Taylor says the low level of fines for polluters showed they were not feeling the full weight of the law when sentenced.

New data reveals that prosecuted environmental polluters are being being fined only 4.39 per cent of the maximum fine that the law allows.

The data is taken from a study undertaken by the Waikato Regional Council to better understand fines issued from prosecutions under the Resource Management Act.

Of the 33 prosecutions between 2013-17, there were 96 convictions including 29 against individuals and 67 against companies or corporate entities.

The single largest fine imposed in one case was $128,750 and the lowest fine issued was $14,250.

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123rf Of the 33 prosecutions initiated by the Waikato Regional Council for breaches of the Resource Management Act between 2013-17, there were 96 convictions including 29 against individuals and 67 against companies or corporate entities.

For all of those cases, the total maximum fine that could have been imposed by the court was $44.29 million. However, the total actual fine imposed was $1,358,309.73 - just 4.39 per cent of the maximum fine available under the law.

The stark figures were revealed at the council's Environmental and Services Performance Committee meeting. It did not include prosecutions still before the court that were started during the analysis period.

Fish & Game chief executive Martin Taylor said the data showed polluters were not feeling the full weight of the law despite Parliament providing strong penalties.

"The report's acknowledgement that fines are only 4.39 per cent of the maximum the law allows is disappointing and shows courts need to take a stronger line to demonstrate that not only is polluting waterways environmentally damaging and socially unacceptable, it is also financially unsustainable."

Taylor said not enough polluters were being targeted based on the low number of prosecutions compared to the level of dairying in the Waikato.

The number of prosecutions was too low and equated to only half a dozen a year. This raised suspicions that there is not enough enforcement or inspections.

"It is even more worrying in light of recent research showing that nine seriously non-compliant Waikato dairy farms hadn't been inspected for more than a decade and that Waikato Regional Council can't even say how many dairy farms are operating in its region."

That research from Forest & Bird saw it give the council an 'F' rating in its report, Cleaning Up: Fixing Compliance, Monitoring & Enforcement in the dairy sector', last month.

Forest & Bird would not comment on the data, saying fines was an issue for the courts.

Waikato Regional Council's manager of investigations and incident response, and report author Patrick Lynch, said the data had to be put into context.

"It is important to note that the courts are bound by a myriad of legislations and case law when imposing sentence. They need to consider all of the individual circumstances around the offending and the offender before imposing a penalty."

Sentencing judges were also conscious that elevated penalties were open to appeal. He said it was inappropriate for a regulatory agency to be publicly critical of the courts.

He said there was no way of knowing whether the low monetary rate of fines being issued reduced the deterrent value of RMA prosecutions.

"Common sense would suggest that a criminal conviction and a fine in the tens of thousands of dollars would/should change behaviour. Yet, we keep finding serious breaches of the RMA. So, while I am sure that some people are getting the message, some people are not."

Waikato River Authority chief executive Bob Penter​ said there was increasing public intolerance for breaches of environmental rules and a heightened awareness of the importance of New Zealand's rivers and streams.

The Authority had seen an increased commitment for good environmental stewardship by landowners, farmers and industry in protecting waterways.

"Clearly there will be mistakes made, and in some extreme cases, environmental damage is deliberate. The Authority fully supports the work of the Waikato Regional Council in bringing prosecutions where the evidence warrants such action."

Environmental and Services Performance Committee chairwoman Kathy White could not be reached for comment.