The former director of a fishing company who illegally caught and landed close to 15 tonnes of snapper and 140kg of kahawai has been jailed for 16 months.
Glen Owen Wright, 37, former director of All Weather Fishing Company Limited, was sentenced in the Auckland District Court following a successful prosecution by Fisheries New Zealand. He faced a representative charge under the Fisheries Act for failing to prevent the offending by his company along with obstructing a fishery officer.
The sentencing marks the end of a long Fisheries New Zealand compliance investigation which included successful prosecutions of another company and individuals for related offending.
“Mr Wright was the director of a company that illegally caught and landed nearly 15 tonnes of snapper, and more than 140kg of kahawai and 40kg of grey mullet,” says Fisheries New Zealand director of fisheries compliance, Steve Ham.
“The company did not have the required quota to legally catch the fish and did not report or record the catch.
“The rules are there to ensure sustainability for everyone. The court found Mr Wright was aware that fish was being caught and landed illegally by his company but did nothing to prevent it.
“The vast majority of commercial fishers do the right thing. This fish was stolen, and the motivation was greed and profit.”
Fisheries New Zealand’s investigation earlier tracked the illegally caught fish and prosecuted those responsible for its trade. In August last year, Auckland licensed fish receiver, Sea World Limited, which traded as Seamart, was fined $360,000 for illegally supplying fish valued at over $348,000 to other seafood companies.
An employee, 50-year-old Marco Taukatelata, was jailed for three years and seven months and a former company director, 44-year-old Haihong Liu, was placed on 12 months home detention for their roles in the offending.
“The court’s sentence today should send a strong message that there are serious consequences for anyone involved in this type of black market trade,” said Mr Ham.
Mr Wright is currently imprisoned for unrelated offences.
MPI encourages people to report suspected illegal activity through the ministry’s 0800 4 POACHER number (0800 47 62 24).
