Seafood greed costs poacher his boat, gear and van

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

A Coromandel man convicted of taking excess rock lobster and scallops has lost his van, boat and dive gear, together worth more than $10,000.

William Boyd Taverner also was fined a total of $2200 when he was convicted in the Thames District Court yesterday.

He pleaded guilty to charges of taking 53 rock lobster and 603 scallops, which he initially claimed had been collected under a customary fishing permit.

The daily individual quota of rock lobster permitted in the area is six and the scallop limit is 20.

Taverner's Nissan van, a 4.57m fibreglass vessel and dive gear were forfeited to the Crown.

Tauranga-based fishery officer Andrew Cameron stopped the man's vehicle just north of Thames and found the large amount of seafood on August 29 last year.

He said yesterday he had been acting on a tip-off.

"The ministry relies heavily on public support in their efforts to protect the fishery," Mr Cameron said.

Any information received was highly valued and always treated in strict confidence.

The Ministry of Fisheries' Tauranga district compliance manager, Brendon Mikkelsen, welcomed the outcome.

He said prosecutions involving abuses of customary permits were rare in the Coromandel area.