“His vessel and fishing gear were seized by the officers. The man is likely to face prosecution.”
Video sent to the Herald by a witness shows a large number of pāua being sorted and inspected by an officer.
The witness said he was at the beach and “happened to drive past the tarpaulin with all of the pāua spread out on it”.
He estimated the largest pāua was about 70-75mm.
According to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), the minimum size of an ordinary pāua must be 125mm, while the daily limit per fisher in the Auckland-Coromandel area is 10.
A man was caught with about 200 undersized pāua in Castor Bay. Photo / Supplied
“It was quite frustrating and sad to see something that was still so juvenile be taken from the Hauraki Gulf where you didn’t think that they even existed,” the witness said.
“[We need to] start protecting our beautiful resource here in the Hauraki Gulf just a little bit more than this or else we’re not going to have something soon.”
The witness said the man had chosen “a very obscure place to launch from”.
“It just looks like he’s trying to avoid or be able to get out of the water with as little attention on himself as possible. So I think [Fisheries New Zealand] has done a fantastic job here.
“Well done to the [Fisheries] guys. And to whoever shared that information too.”
Blackwell thanked the public for the information, saying it helped protect our kai moana resources.
Fisheries New Zealand encouraged people to report any suspected illegal activity through the MPI.