{"id":586723,"date":"2026-09-01T08:54:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T08:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/586723\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T08:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T08:54:15","slug":"concerning-northland-fishing-patrols-record-100-non-compliance-rate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/586723\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Concerning’: Northland fishing patrols record 100% non-compliance rate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fishery officers have recorded a 100% non-compliance rate during a series of patrols in a coastal Northland community, including finding dozens of undersized rock lobsters. <\/p>\n

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said officers carried out three patrols in the Whananaki area over a five-day period, with every person inspected found to be breaching fishing rules. <\/p>\n

During the first incident on August 20, officers investigated an abandoned catch bag left behind by two people who appeared to leave the area in a hurry. <\/p>\n

Inside were eight undersized packhorse rock lobster, all of which had been taken using purpose-made illegal crayfish hooks. Several lobsters were also in soft-shell condition. <\/p>\n

\"Source:<\/p>\n

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries via Facebook (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

The bag also contained four red rock lobster, including one undersized lobster and one egg-bearing female, as well as four undersized p\u0101ua. <\/p>\n

The ministry said the catch indicated the area being targeted was likely acting as a nursery habitat for juvenile marine species. <\/p>\n

Five days later, officers encountered two men diving in a nearby location, and found they were carrying eight undersized packhorse rock lobster, including several with soft shells. <\/p>\n

\"Source:<\/p>\n

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries via Facebook (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

The two men would receive infringement notices of up to $750 each. <\/p>\n

Officers later returned to Whananaki and located three divers who had allegedly hidden their catch bag nearby. <\/p>\n

The catch bag contained 26 undersized packhorse rock lobster and a female red rock lobster carrying external eggs. Many of the packhorse rock lobster had been speared, while some were in soft-shell stage. <\/p>\n

Two of the three divers had their full sets of dive gear seized and were likely to face prosecution. <\/p>\n

\"Source:<\/p>\n

Source: Ministry for Primary Industries via Facebook (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

The ministry said the “concerning results” highlighted ongoing pressure on fisheries resources around Whananaki, where many residents relied on kaimoana as a food source and cultural resource. <\/p>\n

“Protecting them requires a collective effort to ensure future generations can continue to enjoy and benefit from healthy marine ecosystems,” it said. <\/p>\n

“If current levels of non-compliance continue, the long-term sustainability of these valuable resources will be at risk.” <\/p>\n

It urged anyone who witnessed suspicious or illegal fishing activity to report it to fisheries officers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fishery officers have recorded a 100% non-compliance rate during a series of patrols in a coastal Northland community,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,1067,69],"class_list":["post-586723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}