The jailing of a man over pāua poaching offences sends a strong message that the illegal gathering and selling of pāua on the black market will not be tolerated. A Kaitāia man received a year-long jail term when he was sentenced in the Auckland District Court on two charges under the Fisheries Act.
The man, who has previous convictions for pāua poaching, was one of two people before the court for pāua-related offences committed between March and August 2015.
The offending was identified as a result of a complex investigation involving MPI fisheries officers and MPI compliance investigators.
The investigation identified approximately $12,000 worth of pāua being sold in Northland and Auckland. The pāua had been illegally gathered in Northland.
Read the full story: http://www.mpi.govt.nz/…/jail-sentence-for-recidivist-paua…/
Seven people have paid the price for poaching from the Te Tapuwae o Rongokako Marine Reserve in Gisborne.
All of the individuals who were sentenced in the Gisborne District Court this month were caught in a joint operation late last year between the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the Department of Conservation (DOC) with assistance from Police.
The individuals stole a total of 39 crayfish and 238 kina from the protected area that covers 2,400 hectares of coastline.
One group of the people sentenced, took 193 kina and 13 crayfish. One person received a $2,000 fine and was ordered to pay $130 court costs. Another received a 1-month prison sentence.
The rest have been sentenced to a combined total of close to 400 hours' community work and ordered to pay court costs totalling close to $400.
Seven more people who were also caught poaching from the reserve around the same time are due to be sentenced later this year.
MPI's chief compliance officer for Poverty Bay, Richard Ratapu, says the volume of marine life that was poached is staggering.
"That's a lot of kina, a lot of crayfish. We're really disappointed that people think it's okay to steal precious kaimoana from a protected area like this. It's never okay. This type of offending affects the ongoing restoration of the marine environment.
"It was pre-meditated offending and often done under the cover of darkness.
"In most instances, the offenders had gang connections. In one incident, a parent who was part of a primary school dive trip informed the gang members that they were poaching from a marine reserve but she was ignored."
Mr Ratapu says he hopes the sentencing outcomes send a clear message.
"This sort of activity won't be tolerated. The majority of people value and enjoy the marine reserve so this offending, which is actually theft, is unacceptable to the community.
"We will continue to work closely with DOC to monitor activity around the reserve to ensure people who act unlawfully will be punished. We take a zero tolerance approach to any sort of offending.
"Often, the public is our eyes and ears in these cases and we're very grateful for that. A word of caution, though: Sometimes it's unsafe to approach people suspected of illegal activity. It's better to record useful information like descriptions of people who look like they're committing an offence, vehicle makes and registration numbers and anything else that could help with identification," says Mr Ratapu.
The marine life that was recovered was returned to the reserve alive for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.
Don't forget our poacher hotline is 0800 4 POACHER - that's 0800 47 62 24. All calls will be handled in confidence.
Otto wrote: i for one have little faith although a few years ago one of the most senior advisers with the ministry of economic development was up on charges and not the first i believe |
corosanta wrote: First it was the Big Meths Bust... Now it's the Big Paua Bust... How come y'all picking on Northland now?
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Fishery Officers out there doing it!
Last week two Fishery Officers did a combined sea patrol with New Zealand Customs Service focused on the commercial fishing fleet as well as any inshore static gear sitting in the small nooks and crannies of Northland.
The five day patrol saw them head from Whangarei to Houhora, pulling a number of commercial and recreational crayfish pots and nets and checking all the closed areas. Only one unmarked commercial crayfish pot was seized which was pleasing to see. There was a number of unmarked recreational nets and pots seized for various reasons.
To brush up on rules relating to these please see our website https://www.fisheries.govt.nz/travel-and-r…/…/fishing-rules/
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