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FISHERIES VIOLATIONS Six suspects were apprehended for fisheries violations in two separate incidents in Northland in one weekend in January. In the first incident on January 18, Fishery Officers for the Ministry for Primary Industries executed a search warrant at a residential address in Tikipunga, Whangarei after an investigation determined that numbers of recreationally caught crayfish were regularly offered for sale on Facebook for prices of between $20 and $30. Items seized from the address included crayfish, cellphones and computers. Further enquires are continuing regarding those who had purchased crayfish from the address. A 46-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman were questioned and could face charges of illegally selling Their vehicle was seized and the four men will be charged with taking toheroa with a maximum fine of $250,000 crayfish in contravention of the Fisheries Act 1996 with a maximum fine of $250,000 and the forfeiture of any property or equipment used in the offending. In the second incident, Fishery Officers apprehended four Whangarei men with 474 toheroa illegally taken from Ripiro beach on Dargaville���s west coast. Their vehicle was seized and the four men will be charged with taking toheroa with a maximum fine of $250,000 and the forfeiture of any property or equipment used in the offending. MPI District Compliance Manager Northland, Darren Edwards says, ���Toheroa are a prohibited shellfish, the only way that they can be gathered is by way of customary permit for hui or tangi. Offending of this scale is nothing but blatant theft and undermines the Fisheries Act and further depletes a fishery which is already prohibited for this reason.��� QUOTA FRAUD A Southland-based commercial fishing company and its director were sentenced on February 4, 2013, in the Invercargill District Court for making false statements on fishing returns for the 2010/11 commercial fishing season. Karaka Fisheries Limited and its director Martin William Nepia, were both charged with six jointly-laid charges of making a false statement in their Monthly Harvest Returns and Amendment returns, contrary to section 230 of the Fisheries Act 1996. In addition, Karaka Fisheries Limited was sentenced on ten charges of filing late returns contrary to regulation 42(c) of the Fisheries (Reporting) Regulations 2001. Mr Nepia was fined $18,000 plus court costs as well as being sentenced to five months community detention and 250 hours of community work. Karaka Fisheries Limited was fined $12,000 for the s230 offences and an additional $5000 for the later reporting charges, plus court costs. In November 2010 Karaka Fisheries Ltd obtained five copies of their commercial fishing permit. The company used three North Island-based fishing vessels to catch fish against their permit during the months of November 2010 to February 2011, using copies of their fishing permit. The permit was subsequently suspended on April 21, 2011. During this time the fishing returns provided by Mr Nepia and Karaka Fisheries Limited stated that no fish had been caught, whereas the amount calculated by MPI to have been caught was estimated at nearly 64 tonnes, with a total ���deemed value��� exceeding $820,000. Ministry for Primary Industries District Compliance Manager for Southland, Reece Murphy says, ���This total disregard for the Quota Management System places our fishing industry at risk. The information provided by commercial fishermen on their fishing returns is important for managing commercial fisheries and making sure they are sustainable. The Ministry will continue to utilise all compliance resources available to detect and prosecute commercial operators who defraud the Quota Management System.��� CRANE SALES & SERVICE One-stop-shop for crane sales, service and parts ��� Leading European manufacturer of marine cranes Fixed, telescopic ��� articulated booms&available Manufactured to Lloyds ��� standard on request ��� Japan���s No.1 loader and mini crawler crane ��� Largest range of straight boom loader cranes 10301 VIP.S79 teams staffing all the major International Airports of New Zealand. There are also a number of active response dogs based in Auckland covering the International Mail Centre and International Cargo companies. These teams combine to cover cruise ships that arrive from overseas destinations. MPI Biosecurity New Zealand has a National Training Centre in Auckland for the training and testing of new and existing detector dog teams. This facility can house up to 30 dogs, and also has breeding and whelping facilities. New Zealand���s Detector Dog Programme has also been instrumental in setting up programmes, supplying dogs and training handlers for other countries such as Argentina, Korea, Canada and Hawaii. March/April 2013 Professional Skipper 67