Chicken farmers are applauding the $15,000 fine given to an Auckland man for attempting to bring dried birds nests into the country.

The Poultry Industry Association says bird saliva in the Chinese delicacy threatens native birds, their industry, its 4,000 jobs and $2 billion a year in earnings.

A spokesman says North Shore man Tian Chi Lee admitted his brother in Malaysia had sent the birds’ nests with a false declaration to a fictitious person because both men knew they were not allowed in New Zealand.