The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) prosecuted The Rees Hotel chief executive Mark Rose and the hotel’s umbrella company for illegally operating the ‘ultimate heli-crayfish dining experience’ excursions in conjunction with a third party company.
Details of the prosecution were heard for the first time in the Queenstown District Court this afternoon, with the summary of facts stating the five-star hotel began offering the ‘‘boutique, bucket-list experience’’ a few years ago.
At a cost of between $4650 and $7750, guests were flown in small groups to remote locations in Fiordland or the West Coast to watch a diver gather the crayfish.
The crayfish were later flown back to the resort town and cooked and served to the excursion participants at the hotel.
MPI counsel Leonie Matehaere said Rose was informed by a fisheries officer in late 2021 the excursions did not comply because the divers were being paid, the crayfish were served at the hotel, and the appropriate invoices had not been kept.
He was given a copy of the Fisheries Act and told to stop offering or advertising the package.
Rose initially told MPI he thought the excursions were covered by an exemption in the law, but later gave assurances he would get the third party business operating the trips to ensure they were compliant.
However, MPI launched an investigation a year later after finding the excursions had continued to operate unlawfully.
Rose admitted three charges of failing in his duty as director of a fish dealer, and The Rees Management Ltd was convicted in March of four charges of unlawfully possessing fish for sale and a single charge of a fish dealer failing to keep invoices for fish purchases.
Each of the charges against both defendants carry penalties of up to a $250,000 fine each.
The third party being prosecuted by MPI is defending several charges against it, with the matter set down for a trial.
Ms Matehaere said Rose was given several opportunities to ensure the excursions were lawful, but had ‘‘deliberately chosen to ignore the advice’’.
He continued offering the package to the hotel’s most important guests - referred to as ‘‘VVVIP’’ - because the excursions were lucrative and ‘‘obviously worth the risk’’.
She sought a sentence that would ‘‘deter others from exploiting our natural resources’’, including convictions and fines for Rose and The Rees Management Ltd.
An Audi car used by the hotel during the excursions could also be forfeited.
Defence counsel Grant Fletcher said the defendants had been at fault because a "recreational catch of crayfish was introduced into a commercial product’’.
However, the offending involved 23 crayfish, which was hardly ‘‘wholesale pillaging of a precious maritime resource’’.
His client had thought the compliance issues had been ‘‘sorted’’ by the company actually operating the trips, and did not give the issue the attention it had deserved, Mr Fletcher said.
‘‘What was probably no more than a blip on his radar, all of a sudden has become a significant problem for him.’’
The defendant, who had made a significant contribution to his community, had never been before the courts before.
‘‘People do make mistakes, and it's a serious one... but at the end of the day, this slipped through the cracks.’’
He asked Judge Catriona Doyle to consider an application for a discharge without conviction in her sentence.
Judge Doyle reserved her decision.
