Leighton Muir (24) died aboard the Capt MJ Souza when the vessel was fishing in the Kiribati Exclusive Economic Zone, on July 2014.
Talley Group pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its employees while at work, when sentenced in Nelson District Court today.
The court was told that a 50mm safety rope connected to a fishing net had previously snapped three weeks before Mr Muir died but it hadn't been replaced, despite a replacement rope being available on-board.
Instead, a knot had been tied in the rope and it continued to be used.
The cause of the breakage was not investigated by the company.
The rope then broke again, after it was put under increased strain by the failure of a strop on the net.
The failure of the strop is believed to have been the result of a poor splice, Maritime NZ said.
At the time of the incident, Mr Muir was working inside the "snap-back zone", an area of high-risk in the event of a rope breaking.
The danger of standing in the snap-back zone was highlighted in the vessel's hazards register.
Maritime New Zealand maritime compliance general manager Harry Hawthorn said this was a "horrific accident", which highlighted what should have been done to manage the risks involved in deep sea fishing.
"In this case, the rope had already broken once, but the reasons for that had not been considered. The rope had been repaired, not replaced, and it broke again. The dangers of the snap-back zone had been identified but crew were still required to work in that area.
"This is a tragic case which will live with the family of Leighton Muir forever," he said.
In 2015 Talley's was found guilty of the same charge after crewman Cain Adams died after falling 6.9 metres through an open hatch on the Capt MJ Souza, when the vessel was in port in Nelson.
The company was fined $48,000 and ordered to pay $35,000 in reparations.
