Family hooked for illegal fishing

Sophie Jackson-Cleaver (left), Verena Cleaver and Janette Harper in the Hamilton District Court for their part in the racket. Picture / Greg Bowker

Five members of the same family are expected to be fined for their role in what has been described as one of the worst blackmarket fishing operations seen in New Zealand.

Neil Cleaver, 63, his wife Verena, 60, their daughter Janette Harper, 38, and daughter-in-law Sophie Jackson-Cleaver, 30, even continued to supply illegally caught fish after they were charged in April this year.

The family, who for eight years had run Seabird Fishing at Te Waitere on the Kawhia Harbour, are to be sentenced in the Hamilton District Court for their involvement in the scam.

They face a total of 63 charges of making false fisheries statements following a 10-month investigation after a routine visit by fishery officers in July last year.

During the hearing, the court was told how the business chose either to not record its catches, misreport what was caught or keep no records.

It was revealed at the hearing yesterday that the family were caught dealing in blackmarket fish again in July this year.

The Ministry of Fisheries (MAF) said their scam was one of the worst seen since the introduction of the Quota Management System.

A Fisheries sting saw Neil and Verena Cleaver supply 30kg of gurnard and 70kg of flounder to undercover fishery officers who had been told the family were still operating illegally.

Undercover officers went to a chartered club in Te Kuiti, striking up a conversation with the couple.

Neil Cleaver said he needed to be careful because "MAF are watching me" but struck a deal to deliver fish at Eight Mile Junction, south of Te Kuiti.

Officers discovered three-quarters of the fish supplied had not been recorded.

Between May 2002 and July 2003 the firm dealt in about 11 tonnes of illegal fish valued at up to $46,000.

A time limit on laying charges means the family cannot be charged for earlier offences.

Fishery officer Patrick Lynch said the scam was "as big as there has ever been in the Waikato. For a small operation it is really blatant offending. Because it [the firm] has been around for so long the customers didn't know it was illegal fish".

Neil Cleaver and sometimes his son Paul caught the fish running two boats, one fishing in the inner harbour for flounder and mullet, the other used for deep-water sorties.

His wife helped process it, then Harper, who lives in Te Kuiti, and Jackson-Cleaver, who lives in Te Waitere, would be called to make sales throughout the King Country.

As the sentencing hearing got under way yesterday morning fisheries officers were at Te Waitere seizing the family's two boats, forfeited as a result of the scam.

It will be decided today what fine the family face but Judge Merelina Burnett heard the family, who pleaded guilty to the charges last month, have already sold their home and closed the firm in preparation.

The court heard Neil and Verena Cleaver now live in a caravan, and all the accused are suffering stress and fragile mental health as a result of the case.

Crown prosecutor Louella Dunn said aggravating factors included sustained offending over a long time, the quantities of fish involved and that Neil Cleaver was aware of fisheries requirements.

She said this was compounded by the fact the family tried to hide their offending by filling out fisheries documents retrospectively.

She said fisheries laws were not set up to make it difficult to comply but to protect a precious resource.

Ms Dunn said the family's lawyer, Wayne Jones, argued in written submissions that they were benefiting the community with a service. "It cannot benefit the community to get blackmarket fish when a resource is being depleted. The only people benefiting from this are the defendants."

BLACKMARKET RACKET

* Neil Cleaver, 63, wife Verena, 60, their daughter Janette Harper, 38, and daughter-in-law Sophie Jackson-Cleaver, 30, have admitted their roles in the operation relating to unlawfully taking and selling of fish.

* Between May 2002 and July 2003 it is estimated they illegally dealt in about 11 tonnes of fish with a value of up to $46,000.