A New Zealand fisherman who deliberately disabled the Geospatial Position Reporting (GPR) device from his fishing vessel has been landed with a heavy fine by the Nelson District Court in a unique case.
Fishing vessel Jeanette, its solar VMS and other equipment were forfeited to the Crown – and a $20,000 fine was imposed by the court after Tony Peter Phillipson pleaded guilty to three charges under the Fisheries Act and Fisheries (Geospatial Position Reporting) Regulations 2017.
In April this year he sailed from Port Tarakohe in Golden Bay with one crew member, heading for the Cook Strait. When he reached the Waitui Bay area, he removed the GPR equipment, placed it in waterproof bags, attaching them to fishing buoys, tied to a rope and anchor.
There is no record of where he went to from that point, but when he returned three days later, there was no sign of the GPR device and he subsequently claimed it had been stolen.
Jeanette docked in Port Nelson on 1st May with catching 5948kgs of fish, valued at $11,875,00.
The GPR device – a Solar VMS – was found by a member of the public and handed in to MPI, along with the anchor, rope, and buoys.
‘All commercial fishing vessels are required to have GPR technology installed and operating on their vessels. Digital monitoring supports sustainable fisheries by tracking, reporting, and monitoring all commercial fishing activity. Mr Phillipson knew that it was illegal to remove his GPR device, however, he deliberately went out of his way to do this in order to circumvent the law,’ said fisheries New Zealand acting regional fisheries compliance manager, Anthony Little.
‘When spoken to by a fishery officer, Mr Phillipson admitted removing the GPR device. This is the first time we’ve encountered this type of offending – someone disabling GPR equipment and there are consequences. The rules are there for a reason. Mr Phillipson’s actions undermined a system based on trust.’
