Wellington, Jan 14 NZPA - Retired fishing industry magnate Peter Simunovich says he feels "vindicated' after settling his long legal battle against TVNZ and APN New Zealand -- the publisher of The New Zealand Herald -- over an alleged defamation of him in coverage of a row over scampi fisheries.

Mr Simunovich told NZPA today he was not able to comment on the amount the two media groups have agreed to pay in an out-of-court settlement.

Simunovich Fisheries and two of its directors, Mr Simunovich and Vaughan Wilkinson were reported in 2004 to have been seeking $29m in damages from the media companies.

Although the settlement figure is believed to exceed $1 million and be the highest paid in a New Zealand defamation case, both TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards and APN NZ chief executive Martin Simons described as "grossly inaccurate" website reports putting the figure as high as $15m.

Mr Simons said that was "totally off the scale of credibility".

"We have asked for a retraction of the claim from the originators of this misinformation. The terms of settlement are strictly confidential and we can make no further comment on the matter," he said in a statement.

The case had been set down for a six-week court hearing later this year, and today Mr Simunovich was pleased about the settlement.

"The matter is finished after almost 20 years of litigation -- me and my family and my parents are pleased that it's all over, and we can move on," he said.

"We've got our apology, and we feel vindicated".

Mr Simunovich said the Herald published a written apology on December 23, and had tagged unreserved apologies to stories archived on its website.

The newspaper said it published articles during 2002 and 2003 about allegations of corruption within the Ministry of Fisheries and illegal fishing in the scampi fishery.

"The Herald retracts any suggestion in those articles that Simunovich Fisheries Ltd, Peter Simunovich or Vaughan Wilkinson were guilty of corrupt or illegal activities in relation to their involvement in scampi fishing". It regretted any damage to their reputations and any embarrassment it caused, "and unreservedly apologises to them".

TVNZ broadcast an apology during the 6pm news during the holiday period.

TVNZ specifically apologised for reporting third-party evidence on an Assignment programme which alleged Simunovich Fisheries misrepresented scampi figures when securing government fishing quotas.

Before the court case began, Mr Simunovich said the company had played "hard but fair" to gain a large chunk of the $100 million scampi fishery.

The latest legal action began in 2005, after the State Services Commission had cleared the Ministry of Fisheries of any criminal wrongdoing in management of the scampi fishery, which began in 1987 when an Auckland company was allowed to start exploratory trawling.

Last August, the Supreme Court delivered a significant setback to the media companies' defence by ruling they could not rely on third-party evidence.

In a unanimous judgment the Supreme Court ruled the media companies would need to independently establish the facts if they were to be used at trial: they could not rely on allegations or opinion to back a defence of truth or honest opinion.

"A defendant may not plead as a particular, the opinion or allegation of a third party, save when the honesty of an opinion expressed by the defendant is challenged," the five-judge bench said in a written judgment.

Simunovich Fisheries was bought by the Sanford company in 2004.

The allocation of scampi fishery was the subject of numerous inquiries and court cases -- including one taken by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters against TVNZ and others.

NZPA