Gisborne-based fishing company fined $13,000 for prohibited fishing; boat and catch seized

Pegasus II Fishing was fined $9000 plus court costs and skipper Baylee Robert Reriti was fined $4000, which the company will pay, after fishing in a seasonally prohibited area. Photo / 123rf

A Gisborne-based fishing company and its skipper were fined $13,000 after fishing in a seasonally prohibited area.

The Crown also seized the company’s $250,000 fishing vessel and more than $16,000 worth of fish.

More than two tonnes of fish, mostly snapper and kahawai, were illegally caught near the Motu River in the Bay of Plenty by Pegasus II Fishing’s bottom-longlining vessel over two days at the end of 2023.

The company, registered to an address in Gisborne, and 23-year-old skipper Baylee Robert Reriti were sentenced in the Christchurch District Court on May 30 on one charge each under the Fisheries (Auckland and Kermadec Areas Commercial Fishing) Regulations 1986.

Pegasus II Fishing was fined $9000 plus court costs, while Reriti was fined $4000.

The boat Rose Croix, its fishing gear and electronics, was valued at $250,000 and seized by Fisheries New Zealand, as well as 2185kg of fish, which had a value of $16,504.

The company is still permitted to use the boat under a user agreement with the Ministry for Primary Industries.

A seasonal prohibition applies to all commercial harvesting of finfish every year from December 1 to March 31 within a six-nautical-mile radius of the Okatoa rocks near the Motu River.

According to the summary of facts, the prohibition was put in place more than 50 years ago after local iwi Te Whānau a Apanui advocated that the Motu underwater delta was a significant spawning area for snapper and kahawai.

In December 2023, a member of the public reported to fishery officers that a commercial fishing vessel was near the Motu River. It was identified as the Rose Croix by the officers.

Electronic reporting and global positioning reports showed the Rose Croix was in the area on December 16 and 17.

Reriti and sole company director Jason Lee admitted in formal interviews that the vessel had taken finfish from the prohibited area. They said they were not aware of the seasonal prohibition and had not looked into legislation for the area.

Neither had any previous fisheries offences nor criminal history.