HB Seafoods director Nino D'Esposito has been charged with allowing one of his boats to go to sea without a fisheries observer on board.
D'Esposito, 55, his company Esplanade No. 3, and the boat's skipper David Wakefield, 65, appeared in Napier District Court on Wednesday, charged by the Ministry of Primary Industries with contravening a notice by allowing a vessel to be put to sea at Napier without an observer on board on July 15.
The matters were adjourned until August 12.
Under the Fisheries Act, MPI can place observers on fishing boats, and anyone who goes to sea without their observer can be prosecuted and fined up to $250,000.
The fisheries observers record independent data relating to a vessel's catches, and monitor the environmental impact of fishing activity.