Fifteen people have been caught flouting recreational fishing rules in Auckland over the weekend – more than half of them for undersized snapper.
North Harbour Fishery officers and Auckland Police Maritime officers joined forces to carry out 514 inspections across the city’s east and west coasts.
Fisheries New Zealand district manager of North Harbour, Glen Blackwell, said fortunately, most fishers obeyed the rules, and the majority of the offences were minor.
“Overall, there was a high level of compliance with the rules, which was good to see. Of the 15 offences, nine fishers were found with undersize snapper in the East Coast area,” he said.
“On the West Coast, one fisher had too many oysters and three others had taken undersize scallops.”
Fisheries NZ was considering prosecution after two illegal set nets were found joined together at Mill Bay in West Auckland.
Infringement notices were issued to two people who took undersized snapper, while the remaining fishers received formal warning notices.
A warning was also issued to a fisher whose unmarked set net was found at Titirangi.
Blackwell said the patrol was launched in anticipation for the upcoming summer season.
“With summer is on its way, we expect more fishers on the water and along our coasts – so more Fishery Officers will be out and about to make sure the rules are being followed,” he said.
“The rules are there for a reason – to protect the sustainability of our shared fisheries. So, when we find evidence of rules not being followed, we take action.”
Fishers were encouraged to check the guidelines by downloading the NZ Fishing Rules app and checking the Ministry for Primary Industries’ set net laws.