Man illegally flogging off crayfish

The man was offering large crayfish on Facebook for $30 each. Photo / James Williams

Authorities have reeled a commercial fisherman illegally flogging off crayfish to his mates.

Sean John Keith Stannard works as a deckhand on a commercial fishing boat.

Regulations allow him to take home some catch from himself, under certain conditions, but officials say he abused this privilege.

"He was offering large crayfish on Facebook for $30 each and texting his mates to see if they were interested. We caught him selling $220 of crayfish in three transactions in March this year," Ministry for Primary Industries district compliance manager Mike Green said.

Stannard, a 25-year-old from Lower Hutt, was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to Fisheries Act charges of selling crayfish and offering crayfish for sale.

In the Hutt Valley District Court this week, he was sentenced to 80 hours' community work and ordered to forfeit his phone to the Crown.

In a statement, Mr Green said that all commercial fishers must rigorously follow the rules.

"Flogging off a few crays for a perk may not sound like a big issue, but if all fishers did it, we'd risk collapsing the fishery. No one wants that."