Judge queries restaurants' role in illegal sales of koura

A judge has asked why several top restaurants and hotels have escaped prosecution after buying illegal freshwater crayfish.

Judge Chris McGuire sentenced Alfred Morehu this week after Morehu admitted to earning about $28,000 from illegally selling koura - native freshwater crayfish - harvested from Lake Rotoma.

The koura were sold to a distributor, who in turn sold them to more than 30 restaurants and hotels nationwide for seven months last year.

The restaurants included White at Auckland's Hilton Hotel, Hotel du Vin, south of Auckland, and Taupo's Huka Lodge.

In the Rotorua District Court, Judge McGuire asked why the "upmarket entities" which bought the crayfish from Morehu were not also facing prosecution.

"It goes without saying that if there were not people willing to buy them, the market for illegal trade dries up," he said.

The restaurants later told the Herald they had simply trusted their regular suppliers or were tripped by laws that were different for the native fish than the usual species.

Hilton general manager John Ingram said White bought the koura from one of its regular fish suppliers, who had suggested it as a point of difference for the restaurant. After six to eight weeks, a Ministry of Fisheries official said it was illegal and White took it off the menu.

"It's not as if it was someone who came and knocked on the back door with a bag of them."

He said it was hard to know it was illegal. "[That is] why we only deal with reputable suppliers ... the onus is on them to make sure whatever they supply us is creditable."

Mike Egan, president of the Restaurant Association, said it was unreasonable to demand documents for every lot of fish delivered.

However, he said the koura case could be a cautionary tale. The law was different to that for ocean fish and because koura were still relatively rare in restaurants, they were little known.

"We want to stick to the rules and laws, if you know what they are. But most restaurants have good relationships with reputable fish suppliers, and trust them."

But Fisheries Ministry aquaculture manager Daniel Lees said the onus was on the restaurant as well.

"All restaurants are dealers in fish. Under the fisheries regulations, dealers are required to keep records of where the fish comes from and need to check it comes from a legitimate source."

Department of Conservation area manager for Rotorua Lakes Phil Alley said there were no plans to prosecute the restaurants, although the sellers had been honest about the koura being caught in the wild.

"My understanding is the restaurants were very much the innocent parties."

Morehu, 43, now of Australia, was fined $2000 and ordered to pay $500 in prosecution costs plus court costs of $130 for the offence, which carries a maximum penalty of a $35,000 fine.

The koura were harvested by employees of Mataura Native. About 706kg - 14,000 koura - were sold to a distributor for $40 a kilogram. The distributor then sold them on for $55 a kilogram.

The standard market price for legally farmed koura is about $80 to $90 a kilogram.

Hotel du Vin general manager Shaun Corlett said she had not been at the restaurant when the koura were bought but would be checking the hotel's procedures.

"As far as I'm concerned though, it would be unethical of us to buy illegal goods if you know they're illegal."

Morehu pleaded guilty to seven charges of illegally selling koura. His company, Mataura Native, and business partner, Justin Haronga Te Kowhai, 34, have denied the charges and await trial.