Woman, 52, who ran illegal flounder operation fined, has boat seized

Woman, 52, who ran illegal flounder operation fined, has boat seized

By Ethan Griffiths

Source: nzherald

3/6/2022

An amateur Bay of Plenty fisher who caught and sold over 200 flounder for a profit has been fined and had her boat seized after fisheries officers pursued a prosecution.

Patricia Jean Townsend, 52, appeared before Tauranga District Court judge Thomas Ingram on Monday, after pleading guilty to a single Fisheries Act offence.

The offending occurred over an eleven-month period between January 2020 and February 2021. According to the summary of facts, Townsend would travel to the coastal settlement of Maketu and search for flounder in the shallow waters of Maketu Harbour.

Townsend would then onsell the flounder, typically for about $5 per fish. She had developed such a customer base, she would send text messages to prospective buyers informing them when she had a stock of the fish.

The Ministry for Primary Industries received a tip-off surrounding the illegal dealing and sent two Fisheries officers to investigate.

That investigation found Townsend had been selling the flounder for a period of 11 months and was caught using an aluminium dinghy and set net.

Continue...

News Id		Source	Stamp	country
3051	В водоемах Хабаровского края массово гибнет рыба	ridus	2022-05-19	RU
3052	Ученые заинтересовались феноменом глубинной подледной рыбалки на Байкале	interfax	2022-05-20	RU
3053	App to Provide Verified Sightings of Sharks off New England	Associated Press	2022-05-18	US
3054	Native Fish Returns to Maine Lake After Two-Century Absence	Associated Press	2022-05-19	US
3055	Record-Breaking Sunfish Caught in Georgia's Satilla River	Associated Press	2022-05-14	US
3056	Новый дрон с присоской может летать, плавать или ездить автостопом	ridus	2022-05-19	CN
3057	Пропавшее озеро	ohotniki	2022-05-13	RU
3058	Fisher groups are the marine militia in Indonesia’s war on illegal fishing	mongabay	2022-05-06	ID
3059	New lobster fishing rules to protect endangered right whales have taken effect	bangordailynews	2022-05-03	US
3060	Sea Shepherd and Environmental Divers retrieve 10km of discarded fishing line from The Spit	ABC Gold Coast	2022-05-03	AU
3061	Cambodian fishermen hook enormous, endangered freshwater stingray	scmp	2022-05-11	KH
3062	Atlantic herring industry in Maine gets over $7 million to cope with fish losses	newscentermaine	2022-05-05	US
3063	Catch a glimpse! Rare deep-sea fish found in Monterey Bay, US by experts	wionews	2022-05-09	US
3064	They’re less terrifying than you think — but still, those teeth	harvard	2022-05-06	US
3065	Eeling industry hits back at calls to ban commercial fishing of longfin eels	Newshub	2022-05-07	NZ
3066	The people who risk their lives for a catch	theguardian	2022-05-08	UK
3067	‘Testicle’ fish has social media convinced it’s really a ‘sex toy’	nypost	2022-05-03	US
3068	Exceptional Anglers to teach students with special needs how to fish	al	2022-05-04	US
3069	Maine dam owner to make changes to try to save salmon	myjournalcourier	2022-05-02	US
3070	Illegally-Stocked Walleye Caught in Idaho's Lake Cascade	usnews	2022-05-10	US
3071	The Mystery of the Puffer Fish Helmets of Kiribati	atlasobscura	2022-04-26	KI
3072	Missing 88-year-old fisherman found dead in water wearing life jacket, TX officials say	miamiherald	2022-04-27	US
3073	Divers to retrieve lost fishing gear near sunken destroyer off San Pedro	ocregister	2022-04-27	US
3074	World-first women's fly fishing championships beckons Tasmanian trio	ABC Northern Tasmania	2022-05-01	AU
3075	Chinese ‘Devil’s Vessels’ - Sweeping Up The Seas	tippinsights	2022-04-23	CN

122 of [136 - pages.]