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
3726	Salmon face extinction throughout the US west. Blame these four dams	theguardian	2015-06-09	UK
3727	Russia to Face Accusations, Fines if Extinction of Sturgeons Continues	sputniknews	2015-05-22	RU
3728	In the US Senate, Heated Debate over Catfish	learningenglish	2015-05-21	US
3729	Harvesters raise alarm over appearance of red herring near Vale plant	CBC News	2015-05-14	US
3730	Monster fish pulls anglers’ boat mile down Mississippi before being landed	Pioneer Press	2015-05-15	US
3731	4m giant oarfish drifts on to Quang Binh’s coast	vietnamnet	2015-05-14	VM
3732	Utah couple catches monster tiger muskie on wedding anniversary	KSL.com	2015-05-11	US
3733	Walleye at risk in Lake Erie dredge dumping debate	The Plain Dealer	2015-05-09	US
3734	How a 2-inch fish became more important than people	Orange County Register	2015-05-08	US
3735	Feds wrong to allow transfer of diseased salmon to fish farms in B.C., Federal Court rules	straight	2015-05-07	CA
3736	America Needs More Government Surveillance—On Fish	wired	2015-05-06	US
3737	Drug used to treat type 2 diabetes may be harming Lake Michigan fish	wisn	2015-05-06	US
3738	435 kilos of fish caught via dynamite fishing seized in Quezon	gmanetwork	2015-05-08	PH
3739	Biologists confirm Pa. fish has cancer	wgal	2015-05-05	US
3740	Rangers seek to ID woman filmed swimming in home of endangered fish	pvtimes	2021-06-11	US
3741	Chennai artist and deep-sea diver creates awareness about coral health	mongabay	2021-06-09	MV
3742	Species of moray is the first-known fish to feed on land without water thanks to their secondary 'mouth'	dailymail	2021-06-11	US
3743	New research shows that electric fish pause before ‘sharing something meaningful’	Science Daily	2021-05-31	US
3744	Fishers worried mouse plague poison bromadiolone could kill native fish	news	2021-06-01	AU
3745	Jeremy Wade on thrills of underwater exploration	mid-day	2020-01-04	US
3746	Arkansas Game And Fish Confirms Piranha Caught In Lake Bentonville	5newsonline	2015-05-03	US
3747	New Bill Proclaims Striped Bass U.S. National Fish	underwatertimes	2015-04-30	US
3748	Hungry pelicans credited with gobbling thousands of goldfish infesting Boulder lake	dailycamera	2015-04-28	CA
3749	Sambro fisherman charged for catching too many halibut	CBC News	2015-04-23	CA
3750	Scottish salmon catch at lowest in 63 years	scotsman	2015-04-25	UK

149 of [218 - pages.]