Family fined $38,500, forfeit boats for scam

A King Country family who supplied the black market with 11 tonnes of illegal fish have been fined nearly $40,000 and had their boats and fishing equipment seized.

The family faced 63 charges between them. Of these, 36 were laid against Neil Cleaver, the owner of two commercial fishing vessels used to catch up to $46,000 worth of illegal fish between May 2002 and July last year.

His wife, Verena Cleaver, processed the snapper, gurnard, shark, hapuku, flounder and mullet at their Te Waitere home on the Kawhia Harbour.

His daughter, Janette Harper, and daughter-in-law, Sophie Jackson-Cleaver, then sold the fish in the King Country.

The Ministry of Fisheries has described the operation as one of the biggest in the Waikato. It said the offending covered eight years and the supply reached about 250 customers.

In the Hamilton District Court yesterday, the family's lawyer, Wayne Jones, said the business was commercial but not on a large scale.

While the four defendants had pleaded guilty to charges, including not recording catches and falsifying documents, their offending was not comparable to organised crime rings or paua and crayfish poachers.

 

"This is not a sophisticated highly organised sort of criminal enterprise headed by hardened criminals like the organised gangs which are present in New Zealand at the moment."

Mr Jones said the profits from the fish had been shared among three families.

Two relied on the money as the sole income and none was wealthy.

"They did not lead extravagant lifestyles," he said. "They are not living in plush mansions but in decrepit houses badly in need of repair."

Fishery officers began a 10-month investigation into the family's activities last July.

Judge Merelina Burnett said accurate record keeping was central to the quota management system which monitored fish stocks.

Failure to comply with this key requirement "eroded the integrity of the entire system".

Mr Jones said his clients, the women in particular, did not realise they were breaking the law.

But Judge Burnett said it was "quite extraordinary" that the women had no knowledge of the rules when seafood restrictions were well publicised in the media and they had worked in the industry for years.

Based on the pattern of repeat offending and the fact the family had broken "all aspects of the [Fisheries] Act from catching to selling fish", the judge imposed fines of $38,500 and court and solicitor costs of $5160.

The family fishing quota, valued at $5000, two boats worth $37,000, $5000 worth of fishing gear and 155kg of barracuda and 6457kg of trevally were forfeited.

After the sentencing, Mr Jones said Verena Cleaver and Harper, the only ones in court yesterday, were too distressed by the level of the fines to discuss the case.

Fisheries district compliance manager Ian Bright said the sentence was a "very positive outcome" which sent a strong signal to others in the industry. "When you get caught this is what you can expect."

 

THE PENALTIES

Neil Cleaver: 36 charges, $20,000 fine to be paid in 28 days, $2500 court and solicitor costs.

Verena Cleaver: 17 charges, $7000 fine to be paid in 28 days, $1400 court and solicitor costs.

Janette Harper: 8 charges, $5250 fine to be paid at $20 a week, $750 court and solicitor costs.

Sophie Jackson-Cleaver: 2 charges, $6250 fine to be paid in 3 months, $510 court and solicitor costs.