Ministry for Primary Industries v Kelsen [2020] NZDC 24724 (24 November 2020)

Last Updated: 26 May 2022

IN THE DISTRICT COURT AT HAWERA I TE KŌTI-Ā-ROHE KI HĀWERA

CRI-2020-021-000746

[2020] NZDC 24724

MINISTRY OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES

Prosecutor v

KORENA GRAHAME KELSEN Defendant

Hearing:	24 November 2020
Appearances:	J Bourke on behalf of L Blencowe for the Prosecutor Defendant appears in Person
Judgment:	24 November 2020

NOTES OF JUDGE L HARRISON ON SENTENCING

[1] Mr Kelsen, you pleaded guilty today to two charges under the Fisheries Act 1996; one of taking undersized pāua and the other of having exceeded the daily limit, more than three times the daily limit of pāua.

[2] I give you credit for your early guilty plea and I need to be consistent with my sentencing of you when I consider how other judges have dealt with people in your position when imposing fines for this kind of offending.

MINISTRY OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES v KORENA GRAHAME KELSEN [2020] NZDC 24724 [24

November 2020]

[3] I am very grateful to Ms Blencowe pointing out to me firstly, your co-offender and his fines and secondly the decision of Judge Broadmore in 2013 decision of Ministry of Primary Industries v Mahoney.1

[4] You will have heard Ms Blencowe say that what you did is to ruin a natural resource for other people. That is right and what they tell me in the summary here is that ordinary pāua is a high value shellfish because of its limited coastal habitat and because of its sedentary nature, it is susceptible to over-fishing and if large areas of pāua are cleared, this impacts severely on the ability of pāua to reproduce, so plundering the pāua stocks, it does not just disadvantage other users, it takes a very long time for it to be regenerated.

[5] Providing food for a tangi, this has been an expensive exercise for you and sadly for you, you now have two convictions entered against your name which are permanent.

[6] In respect of the excess pāua charge, I convict and fine you $1,200. You are to pay court costs of $130.

[7] In respect of the conviction for undersized pāua, I convict and fine you $800 and you are to pay court costs of $130.

[8] You are to start making those payments at $100 a fortnight and your first payment will be on Tuesday 1 December.

[9] For the record, there is no forfeiture of any vehicle or equipment.

Judge L Harrison

District Court Judge

Date of authentication: 03/12/2020

In an electronic form, authenticated pursuant to Rule 2.2(2)(b) Criminal Procedure Rules 2012.

1 Ministry of Primary Industries v Mahoney DC Masterton, 21 March 2013.