Kelly Gavin Scoles, 37, appeared via video link for sentencing in Kaikohe District Court on Friday. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) confirmed he was fined $15,000 plus the assessed value of the catch he took on the day he trawled through a marine reserve.
The offending occurred in May last year, when Scoles was acting as master of the fishing vessel Winbill. MPI said he deployed a bottom trawl net about 1.6km outside the Kahurangi Marine Reserve boundary, then towed it through the full 16km length of the reserve. The Kahurangi Marine Reserve lies north of Karamea, near the north-western tip of the South Island, and covers about 16km from north to south.
The haul that day came to around 700kg of finfish, including gurnard, snapper, rig and john dory. MPI valued the catch at $1502, and Scoles was ordered to pay that amount to the marine reserve in recognition of the damage caused.
Fisheries regional compliance manager Phil Tasker said commercial fishers must know the areas that are closed to fishing. "We use GPS to monitor all commercial fishers in near real time to ensure they are fishing where they are legally able to," he said. "Our expectation is that commercial fishers know where they're fishing and what areas are closed to fishing, such as marine reserves."
The trawling charge was not the only matter before the court. Between March and May 2024, Scoles failed to submit 27 of 47 catch reports on time. Tasker described timely filing as "an essential requirement of the Quota Management System and to keeping our shared fisheries sustainable into the future."
Scoles has faced fisheries-related penalties before. In 2012, the NZ Herald reported he was fined $25,000 in the North Shore District Court after five tonnes of snapper were found caught in a discarded fishing net that was tracked back to him from a label on it.
Anyone suspecting illegal fishing activity can report it on 0800 476 224.
