An amateur Bay of Plenty fisher who caught and sold over 200 flounder for a profit has been fined and had her boat seized after fisheries officers pursued a prosecution.
Patricia Jean Townsend, 52, appeared before Tauranga District Court judge Thomas Ingram on Monday, after pleading guilty to a single Fisheries Act offence.
The offending occurred over an eleven-month period between January 2020 and February 2021. According to the summary of facts, Townsend would travel to the coastal settlement of Maketu and search for flounder in the shallow waters of Maketu Harbour.
Townsend would then onsell the flounder, typically for about $5 per fish. She had developed such a customer base, she would send text messages to prospective buyers informing them when she had a stock of the fish.