Two years after Treacy Thompson went hunting for scallops with a dodgy ruler, she has won a backdown from the Ministry of Fisheries over a matter of millimetres.
The 41-year-old Tauranga beneficiary sparked a lengthy legal battle when she went shellfish collecting with three friends one sunny Sunday at Clarks Beach, Manukau Harbour.
It was December 21, 2002, and the foursome were using a Ministry of Fisheries sticker and ruler guide to measure their take of 47 scallops for legal size.
But when two Fisheries officers turned up, the fishers were stunned to hear that 12 of their catch were undersized - despite meeting the requirements of the Ministry's own sticker.
Ms Thompson understood from the conversation she would get a written warning - until she found a $250 infringement fine in her letterbox.
She thought the fine was a bit heavy-handed for "a couple of marginal scallops".
So she appealed the fine and went to court.
"The optimist in me said maybe a judge will just throw this out," she said.
Ms Thompson's first appearance in the Manukau District Court on June 6 last year led to delays and four more court hearings.
But she battled on with the viewpoint that there's "no way you're going after me when you've got these bigwigs out there raping and pillaging the sea".
It was only at this point she checked the Ministry of Fisheries sticker _ and found it was wrong.
"I put the ruler up against the sticker that was on the side of the boat that we used and, 'oh my God, it was wrong'."
Ms Thompson said the sticker was out by 4mm at the crucial length of 100mm - which is the minimum size of a legal scallop.
Of the 12 scallops she was busted with, all but two were within 4mm of the legal size.
And those two were 95mm.
A statement by a Fisheries officer said two scallops were not measured as they were dead and all the undersized shellfish were returned to the sea.
"If you take that into account then we had two scallops that were 1mm under," Ms Thompson said.
Despite this new evidence, Ms Thompson was eventually convicted and discharged in Manakau District Court on February 12 this year.
She lodged an appeal and shortly afterwards, without any explanation, the Ministry of Fisheries withdrew the case and Ms Thompson's conviction was quashed.
Although the Tauranga woman won her battle, she has been left scratching her head.
"The last two years have been a roller-coaster leaving me emotionally shattered and out of pocket."
The Bay of Plenty Times was unable to contact anyone at the Ministry of Fisheries able to comment on the case.
However, in a letter sent to Ms Thompson in January, national compliance manager Dave Wood said the measurement sticker should be used as a guide only "and a prudent person would ensure its accuracy before relying on it".
He said it was a reality that some people retained out-of-date and inaccurate measures and pamphlets.
"Even if the Ministry were to engage in a widespread media programme, there is no guarantee that all persons who may be relying on an inaccurate measure would be alerted."
EmailMatthew Torbit
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Woman wins two-year battle over scallops
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