Six people were sentenced in the New Zealand’s Manukau District Court and fined between NZD 1,500 (€980.1/$1,045) and NZD 8,500 (€5,554/$5,923) each for offenses registered under the Fisheries Act related to illegally selling abalone in the black market.
The New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) started investigating in January 2015 after inquiries revealed the existence of an associated group of offenders operating in the Auckland-Coromandel area.
"Large quantities of the shellfish were seized along with cell phones belonging to the alleged offenders,” said Simon Anderson, team manager of compliance and investigations at MPI.
"The
