Banned fisherman in court after ill-fated trip

ANDREW GORRIE/Dominion Post

RESCUE LEADS TO COURT: Tulo Tuala and his friend Moevao Neti spent all night out off the Makara Coast in a motorised dinghy after the motor failed to start. Neti was banned from fishing at the time and Tuala was charged with launching an unseaworthy vessel.

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A banned fisherman has been sentenced to community work after an ill-fated fishing trip, which saw him and a friend spend a night adrift in Cook Strait after the engine failed on their inflatable boat.

Moevao Neti and Tulo Tuala went fishing on June 16 last year and lost power while checking their nets off the coast of Makara on Wellington's southwest coast.

They called police on a cellphone at 3.50am on June 17, and were rescued at 8.45am, about six nautical miles west of Mana Island.

The Mana Coastguard, Westpac rescue helicopter and a commercial vessel were hindered in searching for the men by winds gusting up to 50kmh, rain and 1.5m swells.

The air temperature on the night was zero degC.

Neti appeared in Wellington District Court today for sentencing on one charge of fishing in contravention of the order banning him from fishing.

Neti, a stay-at-home-dad from Wellington, has previous fishing convictions and was sentenced to one year in prison in 2004 for paua poaching.

On October 4, 2006 he was banned from fishing for three years for taking excess paua.

The ban was still in effect when he and Tuala were rescued on their fishing trip.

He denied the charge but was found guilty in a defended hearing.

Judge Stephen Harrop today sentenced him to 300 hours community work.

In his sentencing remarks Judge Harrop said the victims in fisheries crimes were both "human and fish" and Neti's continued denial of wrong doing was concerning.

"It's not just the fishing that's the problem, but you are saying to the court that you don't care about the order (ban).

"You were lucky to survive and the whole thing must have been very scary for you."

He said the sentence needed to send a message to would-be fisheries offenders because their crimes were hard to detect and the New Zealand coastline vast.

"The fact it was an unsuccessful fishing trip doesn't make it any less of a fishing tip.

"The inflatable boat was in an appalling state and you were very fortunate that you were able to survive in it," he told Neti.

Tuala was also charged over the incident, including with launching an unseaworthy vessel.

At the time of the incident Tuala told The Dominion Post newspaper they were lucky to be alive.

"We thought we'd never see land again."

The pair were found with the help of Vodafone staff, who worked out how far they were from the nearest cell tower, and in what direction.

- NZPA