Two Wellington men jailed for paua offences

Two Wellington men have been jailed for one year for selling 857.9kg of paua.

Iakopo Faatau and Moevao Neti, both of the suburb of Johnsonville, pleaded guilty in the Wellington District Court last week to three charges of possessing excess paua in November.

Judge Anthony Walsh said he had reduced their sentences from 24 months because of the men's early guilty pleas, their co-operation with authorities and their admissions of earlier offending that would otherwise not have come to light.

The pair were sentenced to concurrent terms of 12 months for the three charges.

Faatau and Neti took a total of 7295 paua with a total weight of 857.9kg which was estimated to have a commercial value of between $77,200 and $214,5000, Ministry of Fisheries district compliance manager Ross Thurston said.

The pair were able to apply for home detention.

Faatau was also banned from fishing for three years because he was recently convicted for possessing excess and undersize paua, Mr Thurston said in a statement.

The maximum penalties for excess paua is five year's imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine.

- NZPA