Fishers were caught with 211 kahawai and 117 undersize pāua in two separate incidents over the weekend in Port Waikato and Auckland.
According to a media release from the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI), on Saturday two fishers with 211 kahawai were nabbed after they’d been fishing at Karioitahi beach, Port Waikato.
Members of the public tipped them off to the illegal haul as the daily bag limit for kahawai is 20 per person and the people involved had more than five times the limit each, according to MPI.
"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,” MPI Regional manager fisheries compliance Phil Tasker said.
In another incident the following day, fishery officers stopped two men fishing in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf with 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. This was a lot of undersize fish, threatening the sustainability of our shared fishing resources," Tasker said.
"One of the men – who we’d consider a recidivist fisheries offender – was also arrested by police for breach of his bail conditions."
MPI said all of the fishers involved are likely to face prosecution before the courts.
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