Under NSW law golden perch cannot be fished commercially. Today Shaun Russell Cox was handed an $11,000 fine after pleading guilty to profiting from the fish he took from the river between Wentworth and Wilcannia over a 20-month period. "I saw the Darling in 2019 and it was not a pretty sight," Judge John Smallwood said. Mr Cox was fined $15,000 and had his boat confiscated in 2019 in relation to some of the offences he admitted to NSW Fisheries. At the time some Darling River locals were critical of the punishment, calling it a "slap on the wrist".