Former director of fishing company jailed for 16 months over illegal fishing
The former director of a fishing company who knew fish was being caught and landed illegally for profit, has been jailed for 16 months.
Glen Owen Wright (37), former director of All Weather Fishing Company Limited, was sentenced in the Auckland District Court last week (Thursday 19 June 2025) following a successful prosecution by Fisheries New Zealand. He faced a representative charge under the Fisheries Act for failing to prevent the offending by his company along with obstructing a fishery officer.
The sentencing marks the end of a long Fisheries New Zealand compliance investigation which included successful prosecutions of another company and individuals for related offending.
“Mr Wright was the director of a company that illegally caught and landed nearly 15 tonnes of snapper, and more than 140kg of kahawai and 40kg of grey mullet,” says Fisheries New Zealand director of fisheries compliance Steve Ham.
“The company did not have the required quota to legally catch the fish and did not report or record the catch.
“The rules are there to ensure sustainability for everyone. The court found Mr Wright was aware that fish was being caught and landed illegally by his company but did nothing to prevent it.
“The vast majority of commercial fishers do the right thing. This fish was stolen, and the motivation was greed and profit.”
Fisheries New Zealand’s investigation earlier tracked the illegally caught fish and prosecuted those responsible for its trade. In August last year, Auckland licenced fish receiver, Sea World Limited, which traded as Seamart, was fined $360,000 for illegally supplying fish valued at over $348,000 to other seafood companies.
An employee, Marco Taukatelata (50), was jailed for 3 years and 7 months and a former company director, Haihong Liu (44), was placed on 12 months home detention for their roles in the offending.
“The court’s sentence today should send a strong message that there are serious consequences for anyone involved in this type of black market trade.”
Mr Wright is currently imprisoned for unrelated offences.
Have your say on proposed catch limits
Fisheries New Zealand is seeking public input into catch limit and other management changes for nearly 30 fisheries across the country, as part of the next regular fisheries sustainability review.
The public consultation includes proposed changes for three blue cod stocks, snapper on the west coast of the South Island, and blue mackerel on the west coast of the North Island. Also included in the proposed changes are deemed value rate changes for six fish stocks.
The fisheries included in this review represent stocks that are of high importance to New Zealand economically, socially, and culturally.
Following consultation, Fisheries New Zealand will use feedback from the public to develop advice for the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries who decides on any changes for the fisheries. Changes come into effect for the fishing year starting 1 October 2025.
The consultation is open now and will run until 23 July 2025.
MPI encourages people to report suspected illegal activity through the ministry’s 0800 4 POACHER number (0800 47 62 24)
For further information and general enquiries, call MPI on 0800 00 83 33 or email [email protected]
