Green-lipped mussels. Photo: NIWA/Rebekah Parsons-King
A Far North fisherman has been ordered to pay more than $100,000 for under-reporting mussel spat harvested on Ninety Mile Beach.
Daniel John Lovell, who had earlier pleaded guilty to breaching the Fisheries Act, was sentenced in the Kaitāia District Court on Friday following a prosecution by the Ministry for Primary Industries.
The 48-year-old commercial fisherman was ordered to pay $50,625 for under-reporting and selling green mussel spat, as well as $53,540 in reparations to MPI.
Andre Espinoza, of Fisheries New Zealand, said Lovell had sold 1738kg more green-lipped mussel spat than he reported in the 2021/22 season.
In the following season he reported taking none, despite selling 939kg of spat to marine farmers.
Espinoza said fishery officers discovered the under-reporting when invoices shared between Lovell and his buyers did not add up.
Spat harvesters were allowed to take only as much as their quota rights entitled them to, or faced paying a penalty to MPI.
"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," Espinoza said.
Spat is the name given to baby shellfish gathered in the wild, then raised in marine farms.
Virtually all New Zealand's green-lipped mussel spat is harvested from Ninety Mile Beach, where it washes ashore attached to seaweed.
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