Permit no defence for paua poachers

Three men, two of whom had obtained a customary permit, have been convicted in the Kaitaia District Court on charges of possessing excess and under-sized paua, Judge John McDonald consenting to the Ministry for Primary Industries' call for two vehicles to be forfeited to the Crown.

Mark Yates (52), Waipapakauri, and Michael Reece Yates (31), Takahue, were apprehended at the same time and place but were charged separately, while Ngawati Joseph Ihaka (37), Tauroa Point, offended on another occasion.

Mark Yates, convicted of possessing excess and under-sized paua, and Michael Reece Yates, convicted on two counts of possessing paua taken in contravention of the Fisheries Act 1996, were both fined a total of $1250 with costs of $260, while Ihaka, convicted of possessing more than three times the daily limit and under-sized paua, was fined $750 and $250 respectively, with costs of $260.

In the case of Michael Reece Yates, Judge McDonald ordered the forfeiture of a 1993 Nissan Terrano with an approximate value of $3500, while Ihaka forfeited an Isuzu Bighorn, a catch bag, a dive mask and snorkel, a pair of fins and a pair of dive gloves.

The MPI told the court that both the defendants were stopped by Fisheries officers at Te Kohanga (Shipwreck Bay) on August 12. Mark Yates produced a Regulation 50 customary permit signed by Tania Yates on behalf of the Takahue Marae, for 100 paua with a minimum size of 115mm, for a coronation in Ngaruawahia a week later.

A total of 129 paua, 63 of them smaller than 115mm, were found in the vehicle. Ten were over the recreational minimum size of 125mm.

Mark Yates stated that he had not been diving; two catch bags were claimed by two associates while a third, which was not claimed, contained 29 paua, 21 of them smaller than 115mm.

Divers using a customary permit were entitled to take their recreational catch, but had to observe the minimum size of 125mm, the ministry added. None of the paua in the third bag were of that size.

Michael Reece Yates told the officers that he knew the conditions on the permit, and while he had not measured his catch he had a "good idea of what 115mm was." He did not offer an explanation for the excess.

The bag he claimed held 62 paua, 38 of them smaller than 115mm, one meeting the recreational minimum of 125mm.

Meanwhile Ihaka was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped by officers near Tauroa on June 9. He produced a bag containing 37 paua, 33 of them smaller than 125mm. The smallest measured 93mm.

Ihaka said he did not know the daily limit or minimum size, and that he had not counted how many he had taken.