Tag Archives: Nelson District Court
Tākaka fisherman who illegally removed monitoring device fined $20k, loses boat
A fisherman who removed essential position monitoring equipment from his boat and then tried to hide it in a bag beneath the sea has been convicted in a case that is the first of its kind in the country. Tony Peter Phillipson has also had his boat forfeited after breaching rules designed to help monitor and protect New Zealand fisheries. Judge Tony Zohrab said in the Nelson District Court today that little of what Phillipson had done made any sense, but his explanation at the time “smelled like fish left in the hold for a couple of weeks” and was in the realm of “gross dishonesty”. more, >>click to read<< 07:15
Sealord convicted for endangering workers after asbestos found on fishing vessel Will Watch
A worker who found what he strongly suspected was asbestos on a fishing vessel has led to a conviction for seafood company Sealord on a charge linked to its failure to properly protect workers from harm. In 2021 the crew member was among several seconded to the 50-year-old fishing vessel Will Watch for a fishing trip in the southern Indian Ocean. He noticed a form of insulation in a locker room that he didn’t recognise and raised the alarm with the ship’s captain. Sealord did not believe there was any risk to the Will Watch crew from asbestos, believing it had been removed from the vessel before it arrived in New Zealand in the 1980s. >click to read< 13:36
Greymouth fishing company Westfleet loses multi-million dollar trawler for coral weighing ‘less than half a pound of butter’
A deep sea fishing company has lost its multi-million dollar trawler to the Crown in a case described by a judge as a “cavalier approach to the whole area of compliance”. Greymouth-based Westfleet Fishing Limited was sentenced in the Nelson District Court today on a charge of breaching a condition of a high seas permit and a representative charge of failing to provide a Non-Fish Protected Species (NFPS) Report. Along with losing its trawler Westfleet was also convicted and fined $56,250. Former skipper Stephen John Smith was separately convicted and fined $7500 for contravening a condition of a high seas permit, while first mate Nicholas Taikato was convicted and fined $6000 on a representative charge of failing to provide an NFPS report. >click to read< 09:10
Fishing company fined $59,000, vessel seized after illegal bottom trawling
A deep sea fishing company has had its vessel seized and fined $59,000 after illegal bottom trawling by a skipper on his first high sea job. The Amaltal Fishing Company, a subsidiary of Talley’s Group Limited, and skipper Charles Shuttleworth, were convicted and sentenced in Nelson District Court on Thursday on 14 charges of bottom trawling in a protected area. In March, Amaltal and Shuttleworth were found guilty of the charges, which were brought by the Ministry for Primary Industries. Reading from court documents, Judge David Ruth described how Shuttleworth, despite his 40-year experience, had never worked on the high seas. >click to read< 09:10
Talley’s subsidiary found guilty of bottom trawling in conservation area
Convictions for bottom trawling in a protected area of the Tasman Sea should send a strong message to the fishing industry, says the Ministry for Primary Industries. Judge David Ruth in the Nelson District Court found Talley’s subsidiary Amaltal Fishing Co breached the conditions of its high seas fishing permit when its vessel, Amaltal Apollo, trawled in a protected area. Both Amaltal Fishing Co and the then-master of the vessel, Charles Shuttleworth, were found guilty on 14 charges. A date has not yet been set for sentencing. >click to read< 10:02
Illegal trawling trial concludes after 10-month hiatus
Fishing company Amaltal has maintained its position that a vessel found trawling in an unauthorised area was the fault of the skipper and not the company. Amaltal, the deepwater division of Talley’s Group, and skipper Charles Shuttleworth are on trial in the Nelson District Court for allegedly trawling in an area closed to fishing in the Lord Howe Rise in the Tasman Sea – from an incident in May 2018.,, The Amaltal F/V Apollo left Nelson in May 2018, on a trip to fish for orange roughy and alfonsino. During the trip, there was confusion over the area the vessel was fishing in. >click to read< 14:44
Fishing company and skipper on trial for alleged unlawful trawling in Tasman Sea
Fishing company Amaltal and a skipper of its vessel the Apollo are on trial for allegedly trawling in an unauthorised area of the Tasman Sea. Amaltal, the deepwater division of Talley’s Group, has denied that its vessel deliberately fished in an unauthorised area during a May 2018 trip and has maintained it was a technical error based on out-of-date information given by the fisheries observer on board. Judge David Ruth is presiding over the judge-alone trial which began in the Nelson District Court on Tuesday. >click to read< 09:57
Sealord ordered to forfeit $24 million vessel
The company was also ordered to pay a $24,000 fine in Nelson District Court for trawling in a Benthic Protected Area. Sealord vessel master Bolen Terric Goomes was fined $7500 and first mate Thomas Adrian Pope was fined $5000, MPI reports. They were convicted on one representative charge each, relating to five trawls for the company, three trawls for the skipper and two trawls for the first mate. In addition to the vessel Ocean Dawn being forfeit, the proceeds from the sale of the entire catch taken in the five offending trawls is also forfeit which amounts to $1,12294.13. >click to read< 08:05
Amaltal skipper to plead guilty for fishing in marine reserve
On 4 March 2020, in the Nelson District Court, the skipper of the Amaltal Mariner intimated a guilty plea to one charge under the Marine Reserves Act 1971 for an incident that occurred in March 2019. The vessel started a tow outside the Hikurangi Marine Reserve, off the Kaikōura coast and then accidentally crossed the line into the reserve. During the brief time the net was in the reserve $213 worth of fish was caught. No benthic organisms were recorded as being caught in the tow. more, >click to read< 11:11
