Old church in limbo
Company must forfeit $20m vessel and pay big money for bottom-trawling breach
“Shocked” members of a Wellington suburb are scrambling to see if anything can be done to save a local church from possibly being demolished — despite that the building is to be considered for heritage status. St Matthew’s Church in Brooklyn could be knocked down before Wellington City Council has an opportunity to declare it a heritage building, which won’t happen until at least next year. The Washington Ave building has been bought by a property developer who recently sought and received a Certificate of Compliance from council to confirm the demolition could happen without a resource consent.
Commercial fishing company Sanford Limited has been ordered to forfeit a $20 million vessel and fined $36,000 for bottom trawling in a restricted area.
Sanford was convicted on three representative charges relating to fishing in the Puysegur Benthic Protection Area, west of Stewart Island.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) found the vessel — the San Waitaki — to have illegally bottom trawled in the Puysegur Benthic Protection Area while targeting orange roughy during fishing trips in 2017 and 2018.
Proceeds from the sale of fish taken in the Puysegur Benthic Protection Area in 2018 — amounting to $150,720 — were also forfeited as well as fishing equipment valued at $5280.
In addition, vessel master Grant Clifford Walker, 51, was convicted on two representative charges and fined $11,250, and first mate William Dessiou Lash, 46, was convicted on one representative charge and fined $5,400.
Walker was found to be in control of the vessel during eight trawls and Lash was in control of the vessel during four trawls.
Benthic Protection Areas, which are susceptible to damage by bottom trawling activities, are closed to protect marine biological life.
Sanford’s offending in 2018 came to light as a result of MPI’s electronic monitoring system, which tracks the location of a commercial fishing fleet in near real time.
MPI is alerted when vessels enter areas that are restricted or prohibited.
While Sanford’s vessel chart plotter did not show the Puysegur BPA as a closed area to bottom trawling, the court found the company did not take all reasonable steps to ensure the master and first mate of the San Waitaki were aware of the closed area before either fishing trip.
Andre Gargiulo, the acting chief executive of Sanford, said the company absolutely accepts the judge’s decision.
“We are very sorry about what happened and disappointed in ourselves.”