Southland Fishing Company Fined $40,000, Skipper Fined $12,000, Banned From Pāua Fishing For 3 Years

A Southland fishing company and its skipper have been fined a total of $52,000, along with a 3-year ban from pāua fishing.

Cando Fishing Limited and Campbell David McManaway (59) were sentenced in the Invercargill District Court on multiple charges under the Fisheries Act they earlier pleaded guilty to following a successful prosecution by Ministry for Primary Industries.

The ban on pāua fishing for 3 years means Cando Fishing is prohibited from:

• Holding a fishing permit to catch pāua
• Engaging in fishing or any activity associated with taking pāua
• Deriving any beneficial income from activities associated with the taking of pāua

“We believe this aspect of the sentence sends a strong message to all commercial fishers. For the Quota management system to be effective in managing sustainability, all fishing activity needs to be captured correctly or the system won’t account for that activity creating a real threat to the resource through overfishing or incorrect reporting,” says MPI Regional Manager Fisheries Compliance, Garreth Jay.

As a result of the fisheries convictions the fishing vessel, San Nicholas was forfeited to the Crown along with 32 set nets.

Mr McManaway is the sole director of the company and was skippering the fishing vessel San Nicholas during a fishing trip in early February 2020. Thirty-two nets measuring 45 metres each were set in and around Otago Retreat and Steep-to Island in Preservation Inlet in Southern Fiordland. The length of commercial set nets is limited to 1000 metres, but Mr McManaway used 1440 metres. Mr McManaway said he was unaware of the set net restriction and falsely reported his nets as being only 60 metres long. During a later interview with MPI, Mr McManaway said he likely set more than 2,500m at any one time during the past decade on account because he did not know this rule.

“Cando Fishing Limited have held a fishing permit since 2005. We’d expect this rule should be known to all commercial fishers who operate in this area. The rules are there to protect the resource and keep it sustainable. We understand that Mr McManaway was not the regular skipper of the San Nicholas, but not being aware of this has consequences as we’ve heard today,” says Mr Jay.

Other fishery offences include inaccurate catch reports such as reporting Butterfish and Moki but not species such as Blue Cod, Crayfish, Tarakihi, Trumpeter, seven-gilled shark, Banded Wrasse and Antarctic Rock Cod. Some of this fish was sold for over $5,200.00.

Cando and Mr McManaway also removed 300kgs of dead pāua from holding pots, disposing of them without reporting it in the required Monthly Harvest Return.

Furthermore, in March 2020, Fishery Officers observed the San Nicholas lifting holding pots and took possession of 223 dead pāua. After Fishery Officers explained to Mr McManaway his obligation to report this loss, the company eventually reported the loss as 120kgs several months after the event.

“It’s really disappointing to hear Cando and Mr McManaway were unaware of these important requirements. Again – we’d expect someone with Mr McManaway’s fishing experience to know this and comply. When we find evidence of these rules being broken, you can be assured that we will take appropriate action.”

Garreth Jay encourages fishing industry operators and non-commercial fishers to report any suspected illegal activity through the Ministry’s 0800 4 POACHER line (0800 47 62 24).

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