A Northland fishing company has been fined $16,500 for failing to use the required fishing gear and providing a false statement on their fish landing return, following a successful prosecution by Fisheries New Zealand.
Macnicol Fishing Limited was sentenced in the North Shore District Court on three charges on Friday under the Fisheries Act.
The court heard the company did not use tori lines which are required to prevent accidental seabird capture when surface long lining. Fish landing returns record where a fish was caught for the purposes of sustainable fisheries management.
“All longliners are expected to use tori lines when surface longlining. Video footage showed the fishing vessel, Carolina M, was longlining without using this bird scaring device – which increases the risk of catching endangered seabirds,” said Fisheries New Zealand district manager, fisheries compliance, Glen Blackwell.
“The rules are there for a reason and most commercial fishers follow them closely.”
Off the coast of the Bay of Plenty, another of the company’s vessels, Kiella, filed an electronic report identifying a different area to where the fish was actually harvested from.
The following month, the Kiella filed another incorrect electronic report, related to its catch of snapper and trevally. Both these incidents occurred in areas, north of Auckland.
Mr Blackwell says accurate reporting is essential to sustainable management of our fisheries.
“It is a fisher’s responsibility to accurately report their catch. This information is an important part of considerations when setting catch limits, so we take misreporting seriously,” he said.
MPI encourages people to report suspected illegal activity through the ministry’s 0800 4 POACHER number (0800 476 224).
