A man who filled three suitcases with Kaikōura pāua has been sentenced to seven months in jail for his crime.
The Ministry for Primary Industries successfully prosecuted Robert Jason Guild on three charges under the Fisheries Act.
It comes as Guild tried to "flee" a Fisheries New Zealand checkpoint and dump his illegal pāua haul on December 11, 2021.
"Mr Guild had gathered 249 ordinary pāua that he had concealed inside suitcases after diving very early in the morning near Cape Campbell Lighthouse. This was witnessed covertly by a trainee Honorary Fishery Officer,” says Fisheries New Zealand Regional Manager of Fisheries Compliance, Howard Reid.
At the time, the daily limit for recreational pāua collecting was five per person.
"He went to the trouble of leaving the pāua in the water, packed in suitcases and using binoculars to check whether he was under surveillance before returning to collect it. He also removed the number plates from his vehicle to evade possible identification. Clearly, he knew what he was doing was illegal," Reid said.
"Mr Guild was seen reversing his vehicle into the water to retrieve the suitcases, before driving towards Marfells Beach and a fisheries checkpoint. When he realised it was a checkpoint, he quickly U-turned, driving at speed back to the sea, entering the water in his clothes and attempting to empty the suitcases of pāua into the chest-deep water.
"Despite being directed to stop what he was doing by Fishery Officers, he ignored them and continued to dump the pāua. He then fled the scene but with the assistance of the Police, we caught up with him along the beach.
"Two recreational fishers assisted Fishery Officers by recovering the cases from the water. One case was zipped and full of pāua, with the rest recovered from the sandy bottom."
MPI said the pāua was worth about $2000 on the illegal market and about $8300 on the commercial market.
"Mr Guild admitted taking the pāua, knowing there were fishery officers at the checkpoint and fleeing because he ‘freaked out’,” Howard said.
Guild was also sentenced to another seven months in jail on unrelated charges. He is able to apply for home detention.
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