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M P I ��� F I SH ERIES NEW S CHINESE VESSELS FINED In April and September 2011 there were five unauthorised incursions into New Zealand���s Exclusive Economic Zone by three Chinese fishing vessels: Ron Da Yang 8 (BBZL6), Lu Rong Yuan Yu 29 (BBZN4), and Lu Rong Yuan Yu 17 (BZSI2) which were operating inside New Zealand���s EEZ in the northernmost Kermadec area, while not being authorised or licensed to do so. New Zealand referred the matter to China for a formal investigation and determined that the incursions, while unauthorised, were not intentional. The incursions were however, a breach of New Zealand fisheries law. The ship owners acknowledged the offending and a payment of NZ$50,000 per ship has been made to the New Zealand Government. China has subsequently implemented a 10nm buffer zone around the New Zealand EEZ and now also requires Chinese vessels to use both paper and electronic navigational charts. MPI���s Deputy Director General Compliance and Response Andrew Coleman, says this is a pleasing outcome that shows illegal fishing activity within New Zealand���s EEZ will not be tolerated. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade also worked closely with MPI and the Chinese authorities to resolve this matter. The incursions were picked up by MPI using the Vessel Monitoring System operated by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Forum Fisheries Agency. Mr Coleman says, ���Our maritime patrol capability, which includes the New Zealand Navy, Air Force and MPI, is doing an excellent job preventing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity. Close co-operation with neighbouring Pacific Island countries and regional agencies is also paying dividends in joint work to protect the shared tuna and billfish fisheries of the South Pacific, the ability to have a fishing vessel placed on the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Vessel List has created a strong incentive for flag states to address IUU fishing incidents.��� On the high seas, vessels must fly the flag of a country they are registered to ��� their ���flag state���. The vessel has to operate according to that country���s laws, including their fishing laws. If the country has signed up to any international agreements, the vessel must abide by those as well. COROMANDEL FISHERIES OFFICERS BUSY In three separate prosecutions by the Ministry for Primary Industries, three men have recently been convicted for taking and possessing excess and undersize shellfish. Whitianga resident Kenneth Blackmore was found guilty for taking and possessing 69 undersize paua from the Otama Beach area and fined a total of $1,250 and had his dive gear forfeited to the Crown, Auckland resident Melvin Henry was found guilty for taking and possessing 43 undersize paua from the Sailors Grave area and fined a total of $1,250 and had his gear forfeited, and Tairua resident David Short pleaded guilty to taking 118 green lipped mussels from the Otama Beach Reserve and fined $450 plus court costs and had his dive gear forfeited. MPI District Compliance Manager BOP/Waikato/ Coromandel, Brendon Mikkelsen says, ���The key is that fishers take individual responsibility for abiding by daily limits and size restrictions and play their part voluntarily to help sustain the fishery they gather from. These matters that have been dealt with by the court should be a sobering reminder to those who disregard the sustainability of the fishery and flout the limits.��� 66 Professional Skipper January/February 2013 In another case Thames residents Daniel Benson and David Swinton both pleaded not guilty after fisheries officers found them in possession of 138 green-lipped mussels at the Waiomu Reserve, Thames Coast. At a defended hearing the two men argued they had been exercising a customary fishing right, however the men had not obtained a customary permit. The men were found individually guilty and were fined $500 each plus $30 court costs. ���It���s great that the majority of recreational fishers take care and responsibility in their fishing activities, and also take pride in playing their part by sticking to the rules,��� says MPI���s Brendon Mikkelsen. PRISON FOR PAUA POACHING A 48 year-old Porirua man has received a prison sentence in the Wellington District Court for paua poaching. Pele Pele Lemalu was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment after he was caught by fishery officers in two separate incidents with a combined total of more than 90 times the daily legal limit of paua. He was also prohibited from fishing for three years, and an associate���s vehicle together with all dive gear was forfeited. In February 2012, Mr Lemalu was caught at Makara Beach with his associate Aaron Karatiana collecting paua. After inspecting some packs, fishery officers found a total of 635 shucked paua and five paua still in their shells. Of the 640 paua taken, 117 were undersized. Mr Karatiana was sentenced in September 2012, to four months��� home detention. In the second incident in June 2012, Mr Lemalu was caught at Stolen paua Pukerua Bay with his associate Neru Kome taking paua from an area where only handlines are permitted. The men had been night diving with a dive torch and were stopped by fishery officers in their vehicle around midnight. Upon inspection of the vehicle, 324 paua were found, all of which were undersize. Mr Kome was sentenced in August 2012, to three months, and three weeks home detention. In both incidents, Mr Lemalu had intended to sell his catch. Ministry for Primary Industries Wellington District Compliance Manager Mike Green says, ���This sentence shows that you can receive prison time for committing serious fisheries offences, poachers not only risk fish stocks but they are stealing from their communities and making it harder for compliant recreational fishers to enjoy fishing activities by taking more than their legal entitlement and benefitting from it.��� Under the Fisheries Act 1996 the maximum penalties for selling recreational catch to obtain a benefit is five years��� imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine. PRISON FOR ���P��� AND PAUA POACHING A fifty-four year-old Upper Hutt man was sentenced in the Wellington District Court yesterday for his role in a black market paua ring and for methamphetamine offences.