MPI has caught fishers with more than five times the limit of kahawai, and in another incident, fishers with a haul of undersize pāua and snapper.
Fishery officers in Auckland caught two fishers with 211 kahawai this week 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, MPI fishery officers caught two men fishing in the Hauraki Gulf with a haul of 117 undersize pāua, seven undersize snapper and one undersize packhorse lobster.
“Our fishery officers worked with our colleagues in the Auckland Police Maritime Unit on this matter,” says Tasker.
“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.”
Tasker says 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,” he says.
MPI encourages people to report suspected illegal activity through the ministry’s 0800 4 POACHER number (0800 47 62 24).
Photography: Getty Images