A 67-year-old man has been fined about $7,500 for shooting a threatened duck species at a western Victorian lake in March this year.

The Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) says the Sorrento man pleaded not guilty in the Horsham Magistrates Court last week to shooting a freckled duck at Lake Natimuk.

However, he was found guilty, after game officers told the court they and a policeman had witnessed the shooting.

He was also found to be using lead shot, which has been banned for more than a decade.

The man was fined $3,000 and was also ordered to pay DEPI’s costs of almost $4,500.