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
3326	State backs limited fishing of goliath grouper	fox13	2021-10-06	US
3327	How to Keep a Small Aquarium Without Being Cruel to the Fish	lifehacker	2021-09-27	US
3328	Britain angers France over fishing boat licences	rte	2021-09-28	IE
3329	Fish fertilize corals and seagrasses but not the way you think	flu	2021-09-28	PA
3330	How illegal fishing off Cameroon’s coast worsens maritime security	theconversation	2021-09-29	CM
3331	Female cleaner fish can judge when to cheat without getting caught	newscientist	2021-09-30	ID
3332	How to save an endangered fish? Eat their enemies, say N.S. conservation groups	CBC News	2021-10-01	CA
3333	Grantham couple upset after pet fish of 30 years killed following otter attack	granthamjournal	2021-10-04	UK
3334	San Marcos fish recommended to be declared extinct by U.S. government	kxan	2021-10-04	US
3335	British Teenager Catches Behemoth 96-Pound Wels Catfish	fieldandstream	2021-09-24	UK
3336	Fishing on the L.A. River without a pole	theeastsiderla	2021-09-26	US
3337	The redfish fishery is returning. So is angst about quotas	CBC News	2021-10-16	CA
3338	Less Than 50 Sockeye Salmon Return to Idaho’s Red Fish Lake	newsradio1310	2021-10-11	US
3339	Alaska’s vanishing salmon push Yukon River tribes to brink	opb	2021-10-02	US
3340	Jeremy Wade on the ‘weirdest’ creature he had crossed paths with	entertainment	2021-09-27	US
3341	DEEP officials recall declaration for massive catfish caught in Coventry	FOX61	2021-09-29	US
3342	Hendersonville man catches another monster fish on Old Hickory Lake by accident	Nashville Tennessean	2021-09-19	US
3343	Anglers feared red tide would create a ‘dead zone’ in Tampa Bay.	bradenton	2021-09-24	US
3344	Cornwall fisherman questions 'absurd' tracking system for small boats	bbc	2021-09-19	UK
3345	The White Lady, endemic fish of the Yucatan Peninsula threatened by water pollution	theyucatantimes	2021-09-24	US
3346	No violations at salmon farm where more than 100,000 fish died, state says	bangordailynews	2021-09-27	US
3347	Tasmania’s salmon industry detonates underwater bombs to scare away seals – but at what cost?	theconversation	2021-09-16	AU
3348	Outrage as supertrawler fishing boats return to East and West Sussex coast	sussexlive	2021-09-20	UK
3349	Video shows sea ‘bubbling’ at St Leonards as mackerel force whitebait fish on to beach	hastings observer	2021-09-20	UK
3350	Ipswich ‘underwater highway’ recognised for protecting lungfish in new documentary	ipswichfirst	2021-09-17	AU

133 of [218 - pages.]