Three brothers found with an illegal amount of sea bass in Mattapoisett this summer are paying dearly for it.

On Aug. 19, Chung Leung, 69, Feo Yit Leung, 63, and Dai Ah Leung, 60, of Brighton, Allston and Malden, respectively, were charged a collective $20,230 by a Wareham District Court judge.

“You don’t get that for drug charges. That’s a huge fine, and we’re very happy with it,” said Sgt. Patrick Moran of the Massachusetts Environmental Police. “If that’s not a deterrent to taking over the limit, I don’t know what is.”

On June 7, shellfish officers alerted Mattapoisett Harbormaster Jill Simmons to the men and their ambitious catch. She stopped the men, who were in a 12-foot inflatable boat.

“I asked them how the fishing was,” she said. “The guy was clearly operating to endanger because the boat was severely overloaded.”

Recreational fishers are allowed eight sea bass per person per day, and the men were found with 174 sea bass over the limit. They also had 48 undersized fish.

Their boat and motor, worth about $2,000, according to Moran, were also seized. Whether or not the court will decide to give it back to the Leung brothers is still up in the air.

“If we have to give it back, we have to give it back,” said Moran. “With a $20,000 fine, they probably won’t be able to afford gas.”

Moran commended Simmons and the environmental police officers who handled the case and said he hopes it will send out a message to others tempted to overfish.

Recreational and commercial sea bass fishing are currently closed for the season, but monitoring the waters isn’t.

“We’re keeping a close eye,” Moran said. “We’re still out there.”