A man who earned $600 from selling dried sea cucumbers to an unknown Chinese man has been hit with a fine of $2,100.
Seveli Feliuai, 49, of Toamua, would not divulge the identity of the Chinese man but confirmed that he sold the dried sea cucumbers for $2 each.
When he was charged, some 431 kgs of sea cucumbers was found in his possession.
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He said the Chinese man had approached him with the idea. Outside the District Court, he again refused to reveal the Chinese man’s name.
But he said he only knew that it was for the man’s food. He said he was not aware that it was being on sold by the Chinese man.
Yesterday, Feliuai was fined after being found guilty of operating a fishprocessing establishment for sea cucumbers without a license The decision was handed down by District Court Judge, Mata Tuatagaloa.
Feliuai had pleaded guilty to operating the processing establishment without a license, pursuant to section 10C (2) of the Fisheries Act 1988.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries confiscated 431kilogrammes of sea cucumbers from the defendant’s home.
Representing the Ministry during the hearing was lawyer, Muliagatele Valerie Vui.
During the proceedings yesterday, he told the Court he was unaware that a license was required to operate such an establishment.
He said he thought that selling sea cucumbers was not different from selling strings of fish on the side of the road.
“If I had known that I was required to have a license to operate it, I would have taken the appropriate process,” he said.
Addressing Muliagatele, Judge Tuatagaloa said the Ministry should look to conduct an awareness programme through the media to inform members of the public that such activity is illegal.
She told the lawyer that the hearing was educational in the sense that a lot more people will now be educated about the issue.
The defendant was ordered to pay the fine within two weeks. His failure to do so would result with him spending three months in prison.
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