OUT-OF-SEASON TOHEROA DIGGERS FINED IN COURT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 75, 8 April 1949, Page 5

OUT-OF-SEASON TOHEROA DIGGERS FINED IN COURT

i A number of offenders were | fined by Mr E. L. Walton, S.M., i in the Magistrate’s Court at ; Whakatane yesterday for brea- | ches of the regulations governing the taking of toherca from . ©hope Beach.

Mr G. Otley prosecuted for the Marine Department on the information of the honorary fisheries inspector, Mr A. O. Sorensen. Statements by the defendants indicated that few of them knew much about the regulations. Thought It In Order

Geo. Ngatai, who said he believed the closed season was during November only, was fined £l, costs £2 19s and share of witnesses’ expenses for taking toheroa on October 17. A charge against a 17-year-old boy who was with him was adjourned to the Children’s Court.

The same penalty as in Ngatai’s case was also imposed on each of Ruby Bluett, Charles Bluett, Te Peeti Merito and Ritihia Merito, all of whom pleaded guilty to taking toheroa on October 17.

When Mr Sorensen stopped the car in which the party travelled, Te Peeti Merito gave the impression he •■thought it was legal to take toheroa at that time.

Mr B. S. Barry, on behalf of the defendants, pleaded that they were all Maoris who thought the closed season applied to pakeha only. There TW-ere no notices on the beach explaining the regulations clearly, though there used to be two. One had lain face down in a creek since last year’s flood, and the other was so defaced by weather it was illegible. Too Many In Car

Cecil Arthur Hayward driver of rthe car mentioned in the previous case pleaded not guilty and was defended by Mr Barry on a charge of ■carrying more than the allowable number of toheroa for consumption by Maoris (50) in any one vehicle. He was fined £l, costs £3 12s plus Aptnesses’ expenses. Mr Sorensen said in evidence that when he stopped the car it had in It a sugar bag and a kit full of toheroa which he estimated would number about 400, though he admitted to Mr Barry he had not emptied the containers to check their contents. Constable A. J. Puddick said Hayward had told him in a statement that the Maoris had said they thought they were entitled under tribal law to take 50 each. They might have had 100 amongst them. In his own evidence Hayward said he had no idea how many his passengers took, because they had pini in the bag as well. Digging With Forks John Bishop, John Gray and B. Watarawi, all accused of taking toheroa in October and of digging them with illegal implements (garden forks and a shovel) were each •fined 1, costs £3 Is and witnesses’ ■expenses on each of the two charges. Bishop did not appear and the •other two pleaded guilty. William Heke Kaiawha, who •pleaded guilty to taking toheroa out of season, was fined £l, costs £2 19s and witnesses’ expenses. They Didn’t Know Roy Eric Orr, caught digging toheroa on October 17, put them back in the sand and apologised for ignorance of the regulations when the inspector accosted him and told him they were out of season. Pie was convicted and discharged.

A charge against Lance Nattrass (Mr Barry) in which the Circumstances were similar, but who pleaded not guilty, was dismissed.