The former director of a fishing company has been jailed for 16 months over illegal fishing

Glen Owen Wright was sentenced in the Auckland District Court last week, for failing to prevent offending by his company, All Weather Fishing Company - along with obstructing a Fishery Officer.

Fisheries New Zealand's compliance director, Steve Ham, says the company illegally caught and landed nearly 15 tonnes of snapper, more than 140 kilos of kahawai and 40 of grey mullet.

He says the fish were stolen, and the motivation was greed and profit.