11 tonnes paua, crayfish in Chathams unreported
WELLINGTON: A prominent Chatham Islands fisherman has been sentenced to home detention and community service for failing to declare more than 11 tonnes of shellfish.
The scale of underreporting was described by Judge Jan Kelly as ‘‘unprecedented’’, and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said it had been unable to find any case where the quantity even comes close.
Kevan Huia Clarke, a former chairman of the Chatham Islands Fishery Association, had accumulated the catch over a 15month period between 2017 and 2018.
The total catch was then shipped on in 50 separate transactions, Clarke working with another person in flying it over to mainland New Zealand to be sold.
At the sentencing at Wellington District Court, Judge Kelly said the way the operation was handled with intent to underreport and conceal the total catch was premeditated and extensive.
Clarke was charged and sentenced on a total of 30 counts, including 14 counts of obtaining a benefit by selling or dealing with rock lobster and paua; 14 counts of omitting information in a return; one count of not recording the taking or landing of fish; and one count of making a false or misleading statement in a return.
The unreported catch had a value of more than $800,000.
It was estimated the total amount Clarke benefited from the underreporting of fish was $340,000.
His two fishing vessels, and holding pots, and quota shares, with a combined value of $115,700, have been forfeited.
The undeclared catch was made up of paua and rock lobster.
‘‘I’ve been in fisheries enforcement for over 20 years, and I’ve never experienced anything of that scale before,’’ MPI compliance director Gary Orr said.
MPI had come across the underreporting during routine patrols around New Zealand.
‘‘We were undertaking a patrol, supported by the Royal New Zealand Navy,’’ Mr Orr said.
‘‘We went out to the Chatham Islands, [and] fishery officers embarked on a naval vessel. They lifted a holding pot off Port Hutt, and found half a tonne of paua in that pot.
‘‘There should be paper or catch records for that, but there wasn’t.
‘‘It was like picking on a loose thread, and the more we pulled the more we uncovered. Subsequently that half a tonne turned into 11 tonnes of unreported fish, which is huge by anyone’s standards.’’
Mr Orr said the sentencing would act as a strong deterrent to others, as a ‘‘strong message that those who steal from our fisheries will be held to account.’’
Clarke’s offending is part of a wider investigation into a significant illegal fishing operation, known as Investigation Hutt.
Clarke is an established member of the Chatham Islands fishing community.
His lawyer, Alwyn O’Connor, before sentencing, said it was a very sad story, and that he appeared before the judge ‘‘ashamed, embarrassed but very remorseful’’.
Clarke wanted to offer the Chatham Islands community his sincerest apologies.
In submissions, several industry associations and the local iwi had outlined their disappointment with Clarke’s actions, especially after such efforts had been made by the community to reduce their quota to restore the catchment.
‘‘It’s really going to be disappointing for the Chatham Islanders themselves, they take a lot of pride in how they manage the fishery out there,’’ Mr Orr said.
‘‘They contribute to that management by voluntarily not catching their allowable catch, to ensure sustainability. This will really hurt them.’’ — RNZ
❛ It was like picking on a loose thread, and the more we pulled the
more we uncovered