Fishers taking too much or undersize pāua, oysters, cockles, mussels, pipi and prohibited toheroa have received thousands of dollars in fines.
“Fishers who ignore the fishing rules need to know there will be consequences and it will hurt their wallet. 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 Director of Fisheries Compliance, Steve Ham.
Two Auckland men, aged 58 and 51 were fined a total of $3,500 in the Waitakere District Court for taking 101 pāua from Manukau Harbour. The daily limit per person in the area is 10 with a minimum size of 125mm. The men were stopped and had their catch inspected by Fishery Officers in February last year. 88 of the pāua were shucked and in an unmeasurable state.
A 48-year-old Hastings man was fined $750 in the Hastings District Court for taking 17 pāua from Mangakuri beach. The man had his catch inspected in May last year. The daily limit per gatherer is 5 pāua with a minimum size of 125mm.
A group of Aucklanders have each been fined $500 in the Manukau District Court for their part in taking a total of 920 oysters from Te Pene Beach in September last year. The trio, aged 43, 41 and 34 were stopped by Fishery Officers who were patrolling the Maraetai area. The daily limit per person in the Auckland Coromandel area for taking oysters is 100.
In the Kaikohe District Court, two men from the Far North District, aged 50 and 40 were slapped with fines of $900 each for their part in taking 497 green lipped mussels from the northern end of Ripiro Beach at Maunganui Bluff. The men were stopped by Fishery Officers in September last year, the daily per person for green lipped mussels in the area is 50. The excess mussels were returned to the sea.
A 27-year-old Hamilton man was fined $1500.00 in the Thames District Court for taking 242 green lipped mussels. The man had his catch inspected by Fisheries New Zealand Fishery Officers in July last year who were patrolling the Matingarahi area doing sea inspections. The daily limit for taking green lipped mussels in the Auckland and Coromandel area is 25 per person.
A 26-year-old Napier man was fined $2750 in the Hastings District Court for being in possession of 11 times the daily for taking pāua.
The man was gathering shellfish in October 2023 at Pourerere Beach and had his catch inspected by Fisheries New Zealand Fishery Officers who found 55 pāua and that 47 were undersize. The daily limit per gatherer is five pāua with a legal minimum size of 125mm.
A 42-year-old Hastings man was fined $2750 in the Hastings District Court for taking 75 pāua of which 72 were undersize.
In December 2023, the man was at Mangakuri Beach gathering seafood and a member of the public saw him hide a black backpack under seaweed which contained the pāua. Fisheries New Zealand was contacted, who stopped the man when he was leaving in his vehicle, and he admitted that the backpack was his. The daily legal limit per person for pāua in this area is five at a minimum size of 125mm.
A 33-year-old Whangarei man was ordered to do eight weeks community detention when he was sentenced in the Whangarei District Court for taking 100 cockles and 100 pipi from a closed area.
The man was stopped by an Honorary Fishery Officer in 2023 at the Ngunguru Estuary where he was gathering shellfish. The area was closed indefinitely in 2016 to taking cockles and pipi.
A 29-year-old Whangarei man was fined $2,000 in the Dargaville District Court for taking 211 green lipped mussels from Ripiro Beach in Northland in August last year. The man had his catch inspected by an Honorary Fishery Officer. The daily limit per person for green lipped mussels in this area is 50.
A 22-year-old Whangarei man was fined $2,500 in the Dargaville District Court for being in possession of 82 pāua of which 81 were undersize. The man was gathering pāua in January this year at Kawerua. He was stopped by fishery officers who inspected his vehicle and found the pāua. The daily limit per person in this area is 10 with a minimum size of 125mm.
A 58-year-old Dargaville man has been ordered to do 70 hours community work and a 30-year-old man, also from Dargaville, was fined $3000 in the Dargaville District Court for taking toheroa at Ripiro Beach in August last year. The men were approached by a fishery officer and repeatedly told to stop what they were doing, but they refused and threw the toheroa back into the sea, preventing the fishery officer from doing their work. Toheroa are a protected shellfish species and taking them is prohibited.
And a 46-year-old Te Kuiti man was fined $1500 for failing to stop for a fishery officer at a checkpoint. Fishery officers were patrolling Kiritehere Beach in October last year. A checkpoint was set up at the eastern end of Soundy Road. When the man arrived at the checkpoint and was told they were carrying out fisheries catch inspections, he reversed his vehicle and appeared to go back to the beach, despite repeatedly being told to stop, only to return to the checkpoint 10 minutes later.
“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 Fisheries New Zealand Director of Fisheries Compliance Steve Ham.
Fisheries New Zealand encourages people to report any suspected illegal fishing activity through the Ministry for Primary Industries’ 0800 4 POACHER line (0800 47 62 24).
