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A Queenstown helicopter company which was warned to stop illegal heli-crayfish excursions for a luxury hotel has been ordered to forfeit two $1 million choppers.
The Helicopter Line (THL) has also been fined $12,000 for illegally taking and selling recreationally caught crayfish to hotel guests.
The luxury Rees hotel has previously been fined $22,000 and Invercargill diver David Brian Casey (35) fined $3,750 for their parts in the offending.
THL was today sentenced on four charges under the Fisheries Act following a guilty plea in the Queenstown District Court, the Ministry for Primary Industries said.
The court also ordered that two Airbus AS350 helicopters used for the offending by the company – valued at over $1 million each – to be forfeit to the Crown.
THL was offering a premium tourism experience known as the “Rees Ultimate Heli Crayfish Dining Experience”, where paying guests were flown by helicopter to remote locations in Fiordland to observe crayfish being collected.
After landing on shore, Casey would dive for up to six crayfish — the recreational limit — before giving an educational talk and posing for photos with guests. He was paid $800 per trip.
The crayfish were then later served as part of their dining experience at the Rees Hotel.
The full experience was sold to Rees guests at a price ranging upwards of $4,650.
A promotional video described the excursions as including a diver catching the crayfish, which would be taken back to Queenstown — via the company’s base at Queenstown Airport — and served for dinner at the hotel at a cost of $100 a person.
Fisheries New Zealand Regional Manager South Garreth Jay said a fishery officer had previously directed the company to cease the operation.
A commercial fishing permit was required to take any fish for the purpose of selling it.
“Any use of seafood as part of a business’s commercial activities is considered sale under the Act.”
During a routine subsequent inspection, fishery officers found several crayfish at the Rees Hotel labelled “Heli crayfish”.
“Our investigation confirmed that despite being formally advised that recreationally caught crayfish could not be sold or used as part of its commercial activity, the Helicopter Line continued operating the experiences, which breached Fisheries legislation.
“When we find evidence of illegal fishing that threatens the sustainability of our shared fisheries, and undermines the interests of legitimate operators and fishers, we will hold those people or entities engaging in illegal activity to account – and there are consequences, as we’ve seen before the court today,” ,” Mr Jay said.
- Allied Media
