A former fishing company boss who knew fish – including nearly 15 tonnes of snapper – was being illegally caught and landed has been jailed for 16 months.
Glen Owen Wright was sentenced in the Auckland District Court last Thursday for his role as a former director of All Weather Fishing Company Limited.
Prosecutors said Wright’s company illegally caught and landed nearly 15 tonnes of snapper, and more than 140kg of kahawai and 40kg of grey mullet.
The 37-year-old faced a representative charge under the Fisheries Act for failing to prevent the offending, along with obstructing a fishery officer, according to Fisheries NZ.
Wright is currently imprisoned for unrelated offences.
A Fisheries NZ spokesperson said the sentencing of Wright in the agency’s case marked the end of a “long” investigation, which included successful prosecutions of another company and individuals for related offending.
“The court’s sentence … should send a strong message that there are serious consequences for anyone involved in this type of black market trade,” said fisheries compliance director Steve Ham.
“The company did not have the required quota to legally catch the fish and did not report or record the catch. The rules are there to ensure sustainability for everyone.
“The court found Mr Wright was aware that fish was being caught and landed illegally by his company but did nothing to prevent it.
“The vast majority of commercial fishers do the right thing. This fish was stolen, and the motivation was greed and profit.”
The illegally caught fish was tracked to another prosecution case, Fisheries NZ said.
In August last year, Sea World Limited, which traded as Seamart, and an employee, Marco Taukatelata, were sentenced at the Auckland District Court.
Taukatelata was handed a jail term of three years and seven months.
A former company director, 43-year-old Haihong Liu, also appeared in court and was sentenced to 12 months’ home detention on two charges, including an attempt to pervert the course of justice.
Seamart was fined $360,000 for illegally supplying fish valued at over $348,000 to other seafood companies last year, according to Fisheries NZ.