A fishing boat skipper who wrestled with armed police as they boarded his vessel outside the 12-mile limit received a sentence of 60 hours community service earlier today.

Te Kaha skipper Elvis Teddy, who saw the laws of the land change so he could be convicted, pleaded guilty to a summary charge of resisting police and a breach of the Maritime Transport Act in Tauranga District Court.

San Pietro, skippered by Elvis Teddy. Photo: Greenpeace.

The charges are the result of a marine protest off East Cape in April 2011 against the Brazilian company Petrobras, whose ship Orient Explorer was carrying out a seismic survey of the Raukumara basin.

Elvis was arrested by police who boarded his boat, San Pietro, during the protests.

Charges of breaching maritime safety regulations and resisting arrest were dismissed following a defended hearing in Tauranga in July, 2012.

The Judge said the incident took place outside New Zealand's 12-mile territorial limit and police had no jurisdiction.

However, the Crown appealed, the High Court overturned the convictions, and Elvis' lawyers took it to the court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal ruled that section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act 1994 can be applied outside the New Zealand territorial limit by necessary implication.

They also ruled that arrest powers provided by the Crimes Act 1961 empower New Zealand Police to stop and board vessels and to arrest offenders outside the 12-mile limit.

New Zealand law was also changed because of Elvis' arrest, which was part of a larger Greenpeace protest against deep sea oil.

The Maritime Transport Act has been changed to apply to New Zealand ships in any location.

Elvis says he's happy to have kept his licences and to be going back to fishing.

The San Pietro has been out of action for 18 months, though a large part of that is because its engine has been re-built and the vessel has undergone renovation.