This article first appeared on Stuff.
A luxury Queenstown hotel that has hosted prime ministers, royalty and pop stars is being sentenced for unlawfully possessing crayfish.
The Rees Management Ltd and Rees Hotel chief executive Mark Rose admitted fishery charges in March that were laid by the Ministry for Primary Industry (MPI).
The company was convicted and Rose applied for a discharge without conviction.
Both parties were to be sentenced in the Queenstown District Court on Monday, but Judge Catriona Doyle has reserved her decision.
The Rees Management Ltd admitted four charges of unlawfully possessing fish for sale and a representative charge of failing to keep invoices of fish as required.
Rose admitted two charges of being a director of the company that unlawfully possessed fish for sale, two of failing to take steps to prevent the offences, and a representative charge of failing to keep invoices.
The charges related to a package marketed by the hotel known as The Rees Ultimate Heli Crayfish dining experience, according to a summary of facts.
Rees Hotel chief executive Mark Rose is seeking a discharge without conviction.
The package involved transferring guests to and from a helicopter hangar and providing champagne while a diver gathered crayfish.
It took place in scenic and remote locations in Fiordland and the West Coast.
The crayfish caught by the diver were taken to the hotel and cooked and served to the guest at an evening meal.
Guests paid between $4650 and $7750 for the experience.
In November 2021, a fishery officer sent a letter to the hotel requiring it to cease the operation and outlining legal requirements.
The following month, Rose emailed a reply saying the trips would be changed to become legally compliant.
However, six more heli-crayfish trips were held between December 30 that year and October 2022, including some that Rose joined.
Crayfishing on the Fiordland coast. (File photo)Barry Harcourt / Southland Times
One trip included the editor-in-chief of an Australian magazine who was also chief judge at an awards ceremony where the hotel and its partner won an “Innovative Collaboration” award for the heli-crayfish experience.
The partner was not named in court and is facing separate, related charges.
In December 2022, fishery officers undertook an inspection at the Rees Hotel and found three crayfish tails without invoices. Two were labelled “heli crayfish”.
“The director claimed these crayfish were for personal consumption, having been provided to him by a friend. The friend has denied that this is the case,” the summary said.
MPI prosecuting lawyer Leonie Matehaere told Judge Doyle that Rose had not shown genuine remorse and claimed he did not realise the activity was illegal and should have asked more questions.
The charges involved 23 crayfish, she said.
Legally taking crayfish for commercial purposes required a fishing permit and an annual catch entitlement.
A diver would take up to six crayfish while hotel guests watched and waited in a helicopter. (File photo)Stuff
The hotel was described as being in the top 1% in the world with a capital value of $180 million and a budget of $25m, Matehaere said.
“This is a company which could have paid the retail price five to 10 to 15 times over.”
Past guests at the hotel have included prime ministers and are rumoured to have also included the likes of the King of Jordan and US pop star Katy Perry.
Defence counsel Grant Fletcher, representing the hotel and Rose, said the case was very distressing and a sense of proportion needed to be applied.
It involved a recreational activity that had been introduced into a commercial environment.
“They should not have done it, but we’re talking a limited number of trips and a limited number of crayfish and limited profit.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison hongi at the annual Australia-New Zealand Leaders’ Meeting held at the Rees Hotel in 2021.Peter Meecham / AAP Pool
He acknowledged that Rose was contacted by MPI in 2021 but had not given the matter the attention it deserved.
“That was a mistake,” Fletcher said. “There were discussions with the other provider ... [Rose] rested on his laurels. He thought the whole thing was sorted and let it go.”
What was simply a “blip on the radar” of a busy chief executive had become a significant problem.
“At the end of the day, this slipped through the cracks.”
Judge Doyle reserved her sentencing decision until early next year.
She would need to decide whether Rose could be discharged without conviction, or convicted and discharged.
She would consider a fine and the possible forfeiture of a $50,000 Audi vehicle, which was used to transport the crayfish, for the company.
- Stuff
