Fishery Officers catch fishers with large haul of kahawai, undersize snapper, pāua, rock lobster
Written by John Grant on October 18, 2022
Ministry of Primary Industries Fishery Officers in Auckland had a busy weekend, catching two fishers with 211 kahawai on Saturday after they’d been fishing at Karioitahi beach, Port Waikato.
The daily bag limit for kahawai is 20 per person and the people involved had more than five times the limit each.
“The public are our eyes and ears and MPI is grateful to the person who provided solid information that led to us stopping these people and inspecting their catch when they returned to Auckland,” says MPI Regional Manager Fisheries Compliance Phil Tasker.
“The rules are there for a reason – to protect fishing resources to ensure there are enough fish in the water for generations to come.”
In a separate incident, on Sunday MPI Fishery Officers caught two men fishing in the Hauraki Gulf with a haul of 117 undersize pāua, 7 undersize snapper and one undersize packhorse lobster.
“Our Fishery Officers worked with our colleagues in the Auckland Police Maritime Unit on this matter. This was a lot of undersize fish, threatening the sustainability of our shared fishing resources. One of the men – who we’d consider a recidivist fisheries offender – was also arrested by Police for breach of his bail conditions.”
All of the fishers involved in these incidents are likely to face prosecution before the courts as MPI considers this serious fisheries offending.
“If you are unsure of the fishing rules the best way to find out is to download the NZ Fishing Rules App and protect our kaimoana for future generations,” says Mr Tasker.
MPI encourages people to report suspected illegal activity through the ministry’s 0800 4 POACHER number (0800 47 62 24).
Tui Murray On October 19, 2022 at 8:59 am
I think now the warmer weather is coming you should come to the COROMANDEL. There Heaps go out FISHING & The Boats are bigger than their cars.The St I live in every House has a Boat &Tractor. Why don’t we do what Aussie do.
Stop Fishing when the Fish start Spawning, & if caught give them a $1000 FINE
That way it won’t be over fished