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
3626	Norwegian fish farms fight sea lice with 'Star Wars'	dw	2016-02-05	NO
3627	Oregon biologists won't condone end to catch-and-release fishing for sturgeon in lower Columbia River	oregonlive	2016-01-09	US
3628	Britain's finest chefs hunt for Norway's most prized fish in icy Arctic waters	independent	2016-01-31	UK
3629	Print an Army of Giant, Articulated Fish From This 3-D Database	wired	2016-01-28	US
3630	The Parrot: What other celebrity fish are in the giant carp's league?	independent	2016-01-27	UK
3631	Tui chub alert: Why one single fish has wildlife experts in Oregon scrambling	csmonitor	2016-01-27	US
3632	This enormous catch broke an ice fishing record in Lapland	thelocal	2016-01-25	SE
3633	Для чего в России создают робота-тунца?	aif	2021-07-06	RU
3634	Emperor Emeritus Akihito discovers 2 new types of goby fish	asahi	2021-06-25	JP
3635	Lice, infectious disease and taking reef fish: The impact of salmon farms on marine biodiversity	thejournal	2021-06-26	UK
3636	Girl, 15, lands big Chinook: ‘If you are a fish, you should definitely fear her.’	chicago.suntimes	2021-06-22	US
3637	To Save Its Salmon, California Calls In the Fish Matchmaker	The New York Times	2016-01-15	US
3638	Scientists sound alarm over hydropower’s impacts on tropical fish biodiversity	mongabay	2016-01-12	CA
3639	Strange 6ft deep-sea fish washes up in Alaska	Earth Touch News	2016-01-11	US
3640	Asian carp could become most common fish in Lake Erie, study finds	kitchener.ctvnews	2016-01-04	CA
3641	How satellite technology is helping to fight illegal fishing	theguardian	2016-01-04	UK
3642	Family says parasites were in fish bought at California Costco	fox5sandiego	2015-12-31	US
3643	Farage fury at EU ban on anglers keeping fish	express	2015-12-29	UK
3644	Fish rage: Locals block wharf after fishermen filmed with 'thousands' of pink maomao in bins in Tairua	nzherald	2021-06-25	NZ
3645	Spanish mackerel stocks under threat from overfishing, government says	ABC Rural	2021-06-13	SP
3646	NSW man gets $11k penalty for making more than $200k selling protected fish	ABC Broken Hill	2021-06-16	AU
3647	New fish scale determines weight based on tail size	dailyamerican	2015-12-29	US
3648	These Fish Went From Saltwater To Freshwater In Just Fifty Years	gizmodo	2015-12-18	US
3649	Record fish haul confirms recovery of North Sea stocks, say industry figures	heraldscotland	2015-12-18	UK
3650	Salmon lovers rejoice, you may be allowed to ‘suspiciously handle’ the fish soon	metro	2015-12-15	UK

145 of [218 - pages.]