Fishing company catches $25k fine, forfeits boat

15th November 2021 By Staff Reporter | news@foodticker.co.nz | @foodtickernz

A Southland fishing company has been fined $18,000 and their boat skipper $6,750 for set netting in marine protected areas, along with removing fins from sharks and discarding the bodies at sea.

In addition to the fines, the fishing vessel Jacob, valued at $221,000, was forfeited to the Crown along with six set nets measuring 1000 metres in length.

The estimated value of the sold catch was nearly $50,000.

Following guilty pleas, Jacob Fishing Limited and their fishing vessel skipper Phillip James Turner, aged 46, were sentenced on Friday in the Invercargill District Court on five charges filed by the Ministry for Primary Industries.