Undercover operation nets pāua poachers
2 min read
The MPI operation saw 1140kg of black market paua bought by Hawke’s Bay Seafoods
The Pāua Industry Council has praised the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) for a sting operation that uncovered an illegal pāua operation.
Hawke’s Bay Seafoods and director Giancarlo (Joe) D’Esposito have been sentenced after pleading guilty to buying pāua in contravention of the Fisheries Act.
The MPI operation saw 1140kg of black market pāua bought by Hawke’s Bay Seafoods.
PIC chief executive officer, Jeremy Cooper, says poachers put the whole resource at serious risk. He praised MPI and the undercover fisheries officer who posed as an illegal seller of pāua to D’Esposito.
“These guys did a brilliant job. It’s not easy to get a bust of this size and they deserve all the credit.”
Cooper says the industry would not tolerate thieves threatening the pāua resource.
“This is greed, pure and simple. Pāua is a highly prized recreational catch and particularly important to Māori. By buying illegal fish, they are undercutting the commercial price and depleting the resource at the same time,” he said.
“We manage the pāua stocks carefully and mongrels who don’t give a damn about sustainability make my blood boil.”
D’Esposito was sentenced to 10 months home detention and 200 hours community service. Hawke’s Bay Seafoods Limited received a $27,600 fine.
“Let’s hope this sends a very strong message to anyone poaching or buying the illegally caught fish, although I believe an order on the prohibition of fishing activity would have been appropriate here,” added Cooper.
