Source: Ministry for Primary Industries
A Northland commercial fisher has been fined $50,625 for under reporting and selling green mussel spat and was also ordered to pay $53,540 in reparation to Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
Commercial fishers and Licenced Fish Receivers can only land what their quota rights or annual catch entitlement (ACE) entitles them to. Without quota rights or ACE, anything landed above their entitlement means a penalty, called deemed value, must be paid to the.
Following a guilty plea, Daniel John Lovell (48) was sentenced (21/3/25) on one charge under the Fisheries Act in the Kaitaia District Court, following a successful prosecution by the MPI.
“For the 2021/22 fishing year, our inquiries found Mr Lovell sold 1,738 kg more of green lipped mussel spat than he reported on his Monthly Harvest Report. His offending continued into 2022/23 where he reported taking no spat, yet our sales inquiries found he had sold 939 kilogram of spat to marine farmers.
“Mr Lovell’s deliberate non-reporting meant he directly benefited from not paying $53,540 in deemed value. The vast majority of the fishing industry do the right thing. Mr Lovell undermined the Quota Management System and the sustainability of our shared fishing resources,” says Fisheries New Zealand regional manager Fisheries Compliance North, Andre Espinoza.
“Fishery officers discovered this illegal behaviour after finding the invoices shared between Mr Lovell and his buyers did not add up. When we find evidence of non- compliance with the rules under the Fisheries Act, we take action,” Mr Espinoza says.
MPI encourages people to report suspected illegal activity through the ministry’s 0800 4 POACHER number (0800 476 224)
For further information and general enquiries, call MPI on 0800 00 83 33 or email info@mpi.govt.nz
For media enquiries, contact the media team on 029 894 0328.
