Fisheries officers in big sweep of Hauraki Gulf

By NICOLA BOYES

Fisheries officers will carry out a major operation in the Hauraki Gulf this weekend as boaties head out to catch the season's first snapper.

Seven Ministry of Fisheries boats and 40 staff will spend Labour Weekend checking that recreational fishers are sticking to the daily catch limits and sizes.

Auckland team leader Craig Richardson said the operation, one of the biggest of its kind, would be based both on land and at sea and cover the area from Kawau Island across to the top of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Officers would be checking catches on the water and teams would check boats as they came into land, he said. Snapper and scallops were the main target.

Snapper had just started to make their way into the Hauraki Gulf at this time of year and Labour Weekend was generally boaties' first chance to get out, he said.

The operation was about educating people on what and how much they could take.

Boaties who see others flouting the rules are encouraged to contact fisheries officers on VHF channel 88.

"We would rather preserve the resource as opposed to having to prosecute people because by the time you get to prosecuting people the fish are already dead," said Mr Richardson. Most boaties stuck to the rules and encouraged the checks.

"The message is take your limit, make sure it's the right size and there will be plenty to go back for next year."