Five fined total of $13,000 for taking undersize paua

Fines totalling more than $13,000 were imposed on five men caught plundering paua at remote Waipatiki and Aropaoanui north of Napier.

The fines, including a $5000 penalty for a southern Hawke's Bay man who was not in court to hear the result of his pre-Christmas diving expedition, were set yesterday in Napier District Court by Judge Cecilie Rushton, a judge visiting from Auckland.

In what she said was a rare departure from usual procedure, she read to the court a victim impact report in which a fishery guardian representing Tangoio Marae said he had major concerns regarding depleting paua stocks in the area, and that generally tangi were considered the only events significant enough to grant permits for the taking of the shellfish outside of the general catch limit of 10 per person.

Tangata kaitiaki Rangi Spooner said there was a real risk of paua not surviving at Aropaoanui and, if offending continued, there would be huge repercussions in that the local people would not be able to maintain their traditional customary practices.

The $5000 fine was imposed on Hartley Deval Puhipuhi, 35, of Norsewood, who was seen with associate Jermarl Daniel Pomana, 30, of Hastings, getting out of the water on the afternoon of December 13 and starting to shell their catch.

Fishery officers intercepted the men as they made their way to a vehicle, when Puhipuhi was carrying 163 paua in a pack.

Representing the Fisheries Ministry, prosecutor Russell Collins said the paua were weighed, and 122 were deemed undersize, each less than 80g.

Pomana had 78 paua, of which, according to the weigh-in the following day, 34 were undersize, and he was fined $2500.

Flaxmere men Jason Derek Lloyd, 20, and Hohepa Witere Haira, 19, were each fined a total of $2150 for having 104 paua, all undersized, when they were stopped by fisheries officers at Waipatiki on January 7, and Hastings man Jason Waewae Skipper, 34, was fined a total of $1650 for having 32 undersized paua at Waipatiki on March 4.