Dried and frozen paua seized

Ministry of Fisheries and Police have seized a large quantity of paua from a local city premise following a combined operation carried out yesterday.

East Coast District Compliance Manager Neville Buckley said approximately 300 dried paua and approximately 400 fresh or frozen paua have been seized.

“Final counts measurements and weighing is continuing but at this stage it is likely that a significant number of the paua seized will be found to be under the legal size of 125mm.”

Fishery Officers have interviewed a number of people regarding the seizure and expect that others will be interviewed over the next few days.

“It is always disappointing to find such large quantities of illegal fish and even more disappointing that a significant number are likely to be under the legal size.”

“There is a limit on the amount of fish that can be taken out of any given area before there is a decline in people’s ability to catch a decent feed.

“The taking of excess numbers and undersize will affect the ability to take fish both for this and future generations.”

Mr Buckley said that the seizure was related to an ongoing focus on the taking of illegal fish in the East Coast District.

“We have obviously been concentrating on illegal paua and crayfish but Fishery Officers are continually patrolling the whole of the district and checking all species.”

If people have information or suspect illegal fishing anywhere on the East Coast, they should ring the MFish poacher line 0800 4POACHER (0800 476 224).

Penalties are set at a maximum of $250,000 with forfeiture of vessels and vehicles possible to reflect the importance of protecting our fisheries.

ENDS

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