Commercial Napier fisherman fined $13,000 for failing to deploy seabird protection measures

David Robin Macale, 48, was fined $13,000 in the Napier District Court for failing to deploy seabird protection equipment while commercial fishing. Photo / File

The former master of a Hawke's Bay fishing vessel has been fined $13,000 for not deploying seabird protection equipment while long-lining for tuna and swordfish 20 times.

David Robin Macale, 48, was the master of Stella B at the time of the offending between May and June 2016.

The vessel used the fishing permit of Esplanade No.3 Ltd, which was part of the Hawke's Bay Seafoods group until it was banned from holding a fishing permit in 2019 and again last year due to repeated fisheries offending.

Appearing via Audio Visual Link (AVL) before Judge Peter Butler at the Napier District Court on Thursday, Macale was fined $13,000 on one representative charge for the 20 occasions he did not deploy seabird-scaring tori lines while fishing off the east coast.

The surface longline sets that he deployed ranged from 8 to 19 nautical miles long and contained over 1000 hooks.

Tori lines, also called streamer lines, act as a scarecrow to deter seabirds from attacking the baited hooks off longlines, explained Ministry for Primary Industries national manager of fisheries compliance Steve Ham.

"All commercial fishers have a responsibility to take these practical measures to minimise the chance of harming seabirds," he said.

"Ignoring these important regulations not only threatens seabirds but also threatens the reputation of the commercial fishing industry which largely follows the rules."

He said the sentence should send a strong message to other commercial fishers that it's simply not worth the risk to intentionally disregard these regulations.

MPI encourages people to report suspected illegal activity through the ministry's 0800 4 POACHER number (0800 47 62 24).