Poacher who packed almost 250 illegal pāua in suitcases jailed for seven months

Suitcases full of illegally caught paua. Photo / Supplied

A diver who packed 249 illegal pāua into suitcases, then fled back into the sea to try escape from fisheries officers, has been jailed for seven months.

Robert Jason Guild was sentenced today in the Blenheim District Court on three Fisheries Act charges, after he was caught dumping his illegal catch, with a retail value of more than $8000.

He was caught after trying to flee from officials at a checkpoint on the south Marlborough coastline in December 2021.

The 40-year-old admitted taking the pāua and fleeing because he “freaked out”, Fisheries New Zealand said outside court.

The fishery was closed in 2016 following the severe, fatal, Kaikōura earthquake which devastated the coastline and destroyed about 20 per cent of the pāua fishery.

It reopened for a limited three-month season on December 1, 2021, and is currently closed.

On December 11 2021, Guild fled from a Fisheries New Zealand checkpoint and attempted to dump the pāua he had poached back into the water, despite calls by fisheries officers to stop.

Suitcases full of the illegally caught pāua.

A Fisheries New Zealand regional compliance manager, Howard Reid, said Guild had gathered 249 pāua and concealed them inside suitcases after diving very early in the morning near the Cape Campbell Lighthouse, in south Marlborough.

The daily limit for recreational pāua gathers, at the time, was five pāua per person.

Guild’s actions were seen by a trainee honorary fishery officer.

“He went to the trouble of leaving the pāua in the water, packed in suitcases and using binoculars to check whether he was under surveillance before returning to collect it.

“He also removed the number plates from his vehicle to evade possible identification.

“Clearly, he knew what he was doing was illegal,” Reid said.

He said Guild was then seen reversing his vehicle into the water to retrieve the suitcases, before driving towards Marfells Beach and a fisheries checkpoint.

When he realised it was a checkpoint, he quickly did a U-turn, and drove at speed back to the sea, entering the water in his clothes while trying to empty the suitcases of pāua into the chest-deep water.

“Despite being directed to stop what he was doing by Fishery Officers, he ignored them and continued to dump the pāua.

“He then fled the scene but with the assistance of the police, we caught up with him along the beach,” Reid said.

Two recreational fishers then helped Fishery Officers to recover the cases from the water.

One case was zipped and full of pāua, with the rest recovered from the seafloor.

“Our Fishery Officers work hard to protect the fishing resources from poachers.

“People should know there are consequences to breaking the rules,” Reid said.

Fishery Officers counted about 250 pāua, of which almost half were undersize.

The pāua would have fetched about $2000 on the illegal market while the commercial retail value of the shellfish was about $8300.

“When we find evidence of people taking seafood illegally and deliberately, we will take action.

“The rules are there for a reason – to ensure fisheries are sustainable into the future,” Reid said.

Guild was granted leave to apply for home detention.

The vehicle, suitcases, and dive gear used in the offending have been forfeited to the Crown.