A poacher who took three suitcases of pāua from a closed Kaikōura fishery has been sentenced to prison.
Robert Jason Guild, 40, was sentenced in the Blenheim District Court to seven months imprisonment on three charges under the Fisheries Act. The vehicle, suitcases, and dive gear used in the offending have been forfeit to the Crown.
He was also sentenced to a further seven months imprisonment on unrelated charges.
The fishery was closed in 2016 following a severe earthquake that devastated the coastline, destroying about 20 percent of the pāua fishery.
It reopened for a limited three-month season from December 1, 2021, and is currently closed.
On December 11, 2021, Guild fled a Fisheries New Zealand checkpoint and attempted to dump the pāua he had poached back into the water, despite calls by fishery officers to stop what he was doing, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said.
"Mr Guild had gathered 249 ordinary pāua that he had concealed inside suitcases after diving very early in the morning near Cape Campbell Lighthouse. This was witnessed covertly by a trainee Honorary Fishery Officer," Fisheries New Zealand regional manager of fisheries compliance Howard Reid said.
The daily limit for recreational pāua gathers, at the time, was five pāua per person.
"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," Reid said.
"He also removed the number plates from his vehicle to evade possible identification. Clearly, he knew what he was doing was illegal."
Guild was then seen reversing his vehicle into the water to retrieve the suitcases, before driving towards Marfells Beach and a fisheries checkpoint, Reid said. But when Guild released it was a checkpoint he U-turned and fled back to the sea, jumping in the water and attempting to empty the suitcases of pāua into the ocean.
"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 assisted fishery officers by recovering the cases from the water. One case was zipped and full of pāua, with the rest recovered from the sandy bottom.
"Our fishery officers work hard to protect the fishing resources from poachers. People should know there are consequences to breaking the rules."
Fishery officers counted about 250 pāua and nearly half of them were undersize. The pāua would have fetched about $2000 on the illegal market whereas the commercial retail value of the pāua was about $8300.
"Mr Guild admitted taking the pāua, knowing there were fishery officers at the checkpoint and fleeing because he 'freaked out'," Reid said.
"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."
Guild was granted leave to apply for home detention.
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