A ST Albans man with 22 previous convictions for abalone theft and related crimes was last week jailed for three years.
Judge Joe Gullaci ordered 15 months of the sentence be suspended, but reminded Tan Truong Nguyen, 49, that any breach of law, even a traffic offence, could see him serve full term.
In handing down the sentence, Judge Gullaci said Nguyen had obviously not learnt any lessons from his previous convictions.
Nguyen and co-offender Van Liet Le of Broadmeadows, pleaded guilty to taking a commercial quantity of abalone from Williamstown in September.
The two men were caught with 539 abalone, 250 of which were under legal size.
Both men have been issued with prohibition orders, forbidding them to handle abalone in any way.
The men also forfeited a van and diving gear.
Fisheries Victoria field services director Michael Hodder said the sentence would help provide a significant deterrent to any others tempted to flout the law.
Mr Hodder urged members of the public to call the 24-hour reporting line, 13 FISH, if they saw any illegal fishing.
