Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
A 63-year-old Porirua man found with over 600 pāua has been sent to prison for more than 2 years.
Ruteru Sufia was sentenced in the Porirua District Court today on four charges under the Fisheries Act and one charge under the Fisheries (Amateur Fishing) Regulations.
The Court also banned him from all forms of fishing for three years.
In 2022, 65 whole and 554 shucked pāua were found in Sufia's freezers by Fishery Officers.
"This was a large amount of pāua, more than 60 times the daily catch limit and more than 30 times the accumulation limit," Fisheries New Zealand Regional Manager, Fisheries Compliance, Phil Tasker said.
He said 45 of the pāua found were undersize and Sufia claimed the pāua in his freezer was for a wedding in Auckland.
It was an explanation the court didn't believe.
While on bail on charges related to those pāua, Sufia was caught with a further 48 pāua, with 29 less than the minimum legal size.
"Sufia intended to sell this seafood, which is also illegal. We have zero tolerance for poachers - they affect the sustainability of our shared fisheries, and they affect people who legitimately trade in seafood," he said.
"When we find evidence of illegal fishing - you can be assured that we will investigate and depending on the circumstances, place the matter before the court," Tasker said.
He said Sufia has a long record of breaking fisheries rules, with more than 35 offences dealt with by MPI over a number of years.
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