Fisher to serve home detention

Fishing while banned earned a 32-year-old Kaikohe man six months' home detention when he appeared before Judge DA Ongley in the District Court at Kaikohe last week.

Daniel Elvis Moke had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to comply with a banning order, and further charges of possessing excess and undersized paua.

Judge Ongley sentenced Moke to six months' home detention for breaching the banning order, and fined him $1500 on the other charges. A vehicle used in the offending was forfeited to the Crown.

Moke was banned from fishing for three years in April 2012, under a provision in the Fisheries Act designed to deal with repeat offenders. (A person can be banned after being convicted on two or more fisheries charges committed on different occasions within a seven-year period).

The court heard that Ministry for Primary Industries compliance officers stopped him for a routine inspection at Kawerua, north of Dargaville, on December 8 last year. He was found in possession of 10 paua, the legal daily limit per person, nine of which were under the minimum size of 125mm.

Moke told the officers he had been a banned fisher, but his ban had finished. In fact it did not expire until April this year 2015.

On December 20 he was part of a group of five stopped at Kawerua, who between them had 247 paua. He admitted to taking 28 paua of them, and again told officers his ban had finished.

MPI acting District Compliance Manager Northland Stephen Rudsdale said paua were highly valued by the community and had a limited distribution on Northland's predominantly sandy west coast.

"Illegal over-fishing puts paua stocks at risk," her added.

"The sentence clearly shows the court takes repeat fisheries offences very seriously."

The ministry encourages the public to report any suspicious fishing activity on 0800 4 POACHER (0800 476-224). All calls are confidential.