Raid on home-delivery fish racket in village

By AINSLEY THOMSON

For years a daily message rattled off fax machines in King Country homes and businesses offering cheap, fresh fish.

The fish was delivered directly to people's doors, allegedly by a business based in a tiny village on the Kawhia Harbour.

People liked the service - the cheap prices seemed almost too good.

They were.

The trouble was most of the fish was illegally caught, say authorities.

Yesterday, a team of police and Ministry of Fisheries officers raided the business, seizing boats, cars, computers and documents.

Five people are likely to face charges which carry penalties under the Fisheries Act of five years in jail and fines of up to $250,000.

Residents in the picturesque west coast community - which has about 14 homes and is an hour's drive from Te Kuiti - said they had no idea what was going on.

One man, who was watching the day's events from his lounge window, said those raided were good neighbours and lovely people.

But the ministry described the activities as a sophisticated black market operation.

District compliance manager Ian Bright said fish had been illegally caught and sold for eight or nine years.

The operation was discovered in July when fisheries officers found some suspicious paperwork during a routine inquiry.

"It was the first time we had come across door-to-door sales like this. It was so simple, yet so effective," Mr Bright said.

Two boats were allegedly used; one fished inside the Kawhia Harbour catching flounder and mullet and the other fished in the Tasman Sea catching fish such as snapper, gurnard and hapuku.

The ministry says some quota was held, but the fish in question were deliberately not reported and were sold directly to the public instead of going through a licensed fish receiver, as required by law.

The operation allegedly had a customer base of around 250 people.

Mr Bright said one customer had been buying about 1kg of skinned and boned snapper and gurnard fillets a week for a number of years.

When the amount she had purchased was calculated it amounted to 900kg of fillets.

The ministry said most of the people buying the fish did not know the fish were illegally caught and it was unlikely any customer would be prosecuted.

It is believed those involved made about 100 trips a year during which they caught fish illegally.

The ministry said it was too early to determine the extent of any offending, but it said more than six tonnes of shark was illegally taken in the past nine months.

The remote location helped the operation escape detection.

Mr Bright said such activity could have a dramatic effect on the country's fish stocks.

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/marine