Auckland fish trading company Sea World has been fined $360,000 and an employee jailed for buying and selling stolen fish.
Sea World, trading as Seamart, and employee Marco Taukatelata were sentenced at the Auckland District Court on two charges under the Fisheries Act.
Taukatelata was jailed for three years and seven months for his direct involvement in receiving and distributing thousands of dollars in illegally caught fish.
A fisheries investigation found that SeaWorld supplied $348,000 worth of illegally obtained fish to other seafood companies from 11 months to November 2019.
Over 97 cash transactions, 38,202 kilograms of snapper, 2761 kilograms of kahawai, and 1760 kilograms of grey mullet were taken, at a cash benefit to the company of $348,304.
A former company director, Haihong Liu, was also sentenced to 12 months’ home detention on two charges under the Fisheries Act, including attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Fisheries New Zealand said that while this part of the case was completed, other defendants still had to appear before the court on criminal charges.
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