New Zealand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) on Wednesday warned restaurant operators and retailers that they need to do their part to end the black market fish trade and support sustainable fisheries and food safety.
Local fisheries officers recently became aware of Fisheries Act violations after surveying several restaurants and fish-and-chips shops in the New Plymouth area. As a result, MAF compliance staff are executing warrants at several private properties and retail outlets in Taranaki this week.
During the investigation, nine food outlets purchased more than 150 kilograms of paua and wet fish in violation of the Fisheries Act of 1996.
“Some of these operators have purposely evaded the fisheries record-keeping regulations and dealt with fish for cash under the table. We are especially disappointed knowing that each of them were well aware of the rules around buying fish as all of them had been visited by Fishery Officers in the past,” said Mike Green, MAF district compliance manager. “The food retailers were prepared to flout the Fisheries Act and not comply with the regulations that were in place to protect sustainable fisheries management and commercial fishers’ livelihood.
“These food retailers’ actions contribute to and help to support the black-market trade of fish product. Poachers or fish thieves are an ongoing problem for Fishery Officers and it is only made more difficult because of the ready market these operators create,” he added.
Green said these food retailers also did not know enough about the history of the products they were buying, such as how they had been stored, and they therefore would not necessarily know they were safe for people to eat.
Fishery Officers from Wellington, Napier and Taranaki have assisted with the two-day execution phase of the operation this week. As a result of the inquiries, several of the violators face charges under the Fisheries Act of 1996, fines of up to NZD 250,000 and possibly imprisonment.
