Fisheries Offending

A 43-year-old Auckland man was fined $800 in the Papakura District Court for being in possession of 253 kina he took from Kawakawa Bay in October 2022. The daily catch limit is 50 per person and the man had over five times that amount. 

A 34-year-old Porirua man was fined $2,000 for being in possession of 176 shucked paua, taken while fishing off the Titahi Bay coast. The daily limit in this area is 10 per person, with a minimum size of 125mm. When the man was approached by New Zealand Fishery Officers in September 2022, he attempted to dump the sack of paua into the water. Along with the charge of being in possession of over 17 times the daily limit, the other charge was that the paua was also in a state that cannot be measured. However, the paua were weighed by Fishery Officers and only 20 weighed more than 80 grams, which is the minimum weight of a legal-sized paua. Another man who was also on the fishing trip and facing charges is still to appear before the court. 

A 45-year-old Auckland woman was fined $750 in the Manukau District Court for being in possession of 421 shellfish. The woman and two other people who are still to appear before the court were fishing at Purakaunui Inlet within the East Otago taiapure in September last year. They were caught by New Zealand Fishery Officers with a total of 1,264 shellfish that included 541 cockles, 720 cat’s eyes, two oysters, and one kina. The daily limit is 50 shellfish per person in this area.

In July, a 36-year-old Northland man was fined $1,200 in the Whangarei District Court for taking 230 pipi from the closed Ngunguru estuary in September 2019. The man was stopped by an Honorary Fishery Officer after he left the estuary. He claimed to be unaware of the rules, however, he was previously before the courts for possession of 1,278 pipi from the same area in 2010. 

“The rules are there for a reason – to protect fisheries resources so that everyone can have the opportunity to fish for a feed. All these fines were avoidable if people followed the rules, and most areas have signage displaying what those rules are or if an area is closed,” says Fisheries New Zealand Director of Fisheries Compliance, Steve Ham. 

“If you’re unsure of the fishing rules, the best way to find out is to download the free NZ Fishing Rules App which you’ll have access to, even in areas where there’s no phone coverage.” 

Fisheries New Zealand encourages people to report any suspected illegal activity through the Ministry for Primary Industries at 0800 4 POACHER line (0800 47 62 24).

 - Ministry for Primary Industries