Taking cockles from a closed area, selling recreational pāua, taking undersize fish, raffling seafood, amongst offences costing fishers thousands of dollars in fines recently.
Over the past few months, a number of recreational fishers have been before the courts and received fines of thousands of dollars for a range of fisheries offences.
“People who choose to ignore the fishing rules need to know there will be consequences. Our job is to protect fishing resources so that everyone can enjoy the opportunity to put fresh kaimoana on the dinner the table,” says Fisheries New Zealand’s Director of Fisheries Compliance, Steve Ham.
The following includes a range of cases that went before the courts throughout the country.
A 36-year-old Auckland man was fined $2000 in the Manukau District Court for taking 1348 cockles from the closed Eastern Beach. The area has been closed to taking cockles since 2001 and there are 24 warning signs erected along the beach. Fishery Officers stopped the man in May this year and inspected his catch. In areas of Auckland where no shellfish closures are in place, the daily legal limit per person is 50 cockles.
• A 34-year-old Dunedin man was fined $1200 in the Dunedin District Court for taking 20 pāua from Aramoana which he sold at an outdoor market after processing it into creamed pāua. The man was caught by fishery officers in March this year. It is illegal to sell recreationally caught seafood.
• Three Auckland fishers, aged 40, 39 and 31 were each fined $1750 in the Manukau District Court for taking 80 snapper with 23 of the fish undersize. The group had their boat and catch inspected in June this year at the Half Moon Bay boat ramp by Fishery Officers. They were each charged with having more than three times the daily limit of snapper each.
• Two Taranaki fishers, aged 48 and 24 were each fined $650 in New Plymouth District Court for taking 50 pāua with 40 under size. Fishery Officers inspected their catch in August last year after they’d been gathering from the reef in Bell Block, New Plymouth. The daily legal limit per person for pāua is five with a minimum size of 85mm.
• Two Waikato fishers aged 27 and 32, have been fined a total of $2125 for taking 270 flounder from Aotea Harbour at Kawhia. The men were stopped by Fishery Officers in September last year while towing their boat and had their catch inspected. The men were charged with having over six times the combined daily limit of 20 finfish per person each.
• A 48-year-old Taranaki man was fined $900 in the Taihape District Court for his part in taking 56 pāua. A group of three were stopped by Fishery Officers in March this year on the Wellington South Coast. The daily limit per person is 5 pāua with a minimum size of 125mm. One of the other pāua gatherers was also earlier fined $900 and the other person is still to appear before the court.
• A 22-year-old man and a 31-year-old man, both from Masterton were each fined $1700 for taking 120 pāua of which 91 were undersize. The men were stopped and had their catch bags inspected by Fishery Officers last December. The daily legal limit for pāua is 5 per person at a minimum of 125mm.
• Four fishers aged 40, 25, 33 and 22, have been fined $1500 each for their part in possession of 65 undersize pāua and $800 each for being in possession of a total of 78 pāua they took from Mahia. They were stopped by a police officer and two fishery officers during a roadside check in September last year. The daily limit per person for taking pāua in this area is 5 at a minimum size of 125mm.
“If you’re unsure of the fishing rules in the area you plan to fish, get the most up-to-date fishing rules by downloading the free NZ Fishing Rules mobile app. It will also work if you’re fishing in an area with limited mobile coverage,” says Mr Ham.
Fisheries New Zealand encourages people to report suspected illegal activity to the ministry’s 0800 4 POACHER number (0800 476 224).
