Fears more salmon will die due to delay Jailed police officer to hand over $80,000

BLENHEIM: An aquaculture industry leader is concerned more salmon will die after a hearing on the country’s first ‘‘open ocean’’ salmon farm was delayed by Covid19.

New Zealand King Salmon received mixed responses earlier this year when it asked to set up a farm in the cold waters north of Marlborough Sound, after years of hot summers causing its salmon to die in their pens.

It originally looked at holding an online hearing over several days in June when the coronavirus first hit New Zealand, but last week decided to seek an adjournment to match the ‘‘extraordinary times’’.

NZ King Salmon chief executive Grant Rosewarne said the decision, spurred by submitters, meant the company would need to face more summers in Marlborough Sounds waters, which were heating up.

‘‘That means we have to confront higher mortality rates,’’ he said.

It would revisit the hearing process after the lockdown ended.

The company had hoped to build the farm within a 1792hectare site in the ocean — a New Zealand first. It said the farming operation would take up a small fraction of the site, 7km north of Cape Lambert.

The Marlborough District Council received 56 submissions on the application, with 41 in support, 14 against, and one neutral. Those opposing were concerned it was ‘‘premature’’ due to its ‘‘lack of sufficient information’’ and ‘‘significant adverse environmental’’ effects.

Mr Rosewarne said NZ King Salmon would use the additional time to ‘‘hopefully’’ address the concerns of submitters before the hearing, which could reduce the amount of attendees, and speed up the process.

It would also explore how the hearing could safely go ahead.

Council administrator and hearings facilitator Sue BulfieldJohnston said four submitters had written in asking for the hearing to be postponed, saying they could not collect backup evidence during the lockdown.

The submitters, who all opposed the application, estimated in an email they would need three months to gather field evidence and experts statements once the lockdown was lifted, set down for midMay.

Friends of Nelson Haven and Tasman Bay representative Rob Schuckard also voiced concerns that the proposed video call software, Zoom, would not be secure enough, and that his internet connection in the Marlborough Sounds would affect his ability to join a virtual hearing.

Ms BulfieldJohnston said that fact that virtual meetings could exclude some submitters created concerns about whether they allowed for a fair processes, which should give ‘‘natural justice to all parties’’.

Each group must agree to holding a virtual hearing before one could take place, or provide their reasons on why it was not suitable, she said.

Mr Rosewarne said if approved, NZ King Salmon’s open ocean farm was a ‘‘shovel ready’’ project which could increase employment and contribute to the rebound of New Zealand’s economy.

‘‘It would create about 300 jobs on our team, plus flowons from that.’’ — RNZ

AUCKLAND: A former police officer jailed for corruption after he leaked police intelligence about a $50 million Mexican drug importation scheme has been ordered by the court to forfeit $80,000.

The amount includes his police pension.

In December,Vili Taukolo was jailed for two years and two months after his criminal offending was uncovered.

During a 15month period, while he was a constable based in Auckland, Taukolo (31) was a highlypaid informant for the criminal underworld, accessing the police’s national intelligence application system (NIA) before releasing confidential information to criminals, all while getting paid tens of thousands of dollars for the leaks.

Taukolo, who was formerly a deputy registrar of the High Court, had been caught after irregularities in his use of the NIA were discovered and led to an audit by police.

The NIA holds details about police investigations, people’s vehicles, locations, phone numbers and criminal histories.

The audit identified more than 20,000 queries from November 2017 to March this year.

Of those, more than 4500 were made on dates when Taukolo was not working, while 1200 were on days when he was on leave or had reported in sick. Some 2500 other queries were made an hour either side of his shift.

Taukolo also made queries about 34 other police officers and viewed personal information about them such as their address, vehicles and ‘‘occurrences linked to them’’, court documents show.

Prosecutor David Johnstone said in total, Taukolo was paid about $70,000 by organised criminals.

Civil restraining orders against Taukolo, under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act, were also earlier granted by the High Court.

Taukolo has now been ordered to hand over cash and assets to the value of $80,000. — The New Zealand Herald