A summer snorkel excursion landed two men in hot water after they were caught harvesting scallops in a forbidden area and attributed the violation to a “complete oversight”.
On December 28, 2023, William Edmonds, a forestry worker of Whangārei, Te Are Haika, a concrete layer of Whangaruru anda third unnamed person were out snorkelling off a boat in the Whangārei Harbour.
The pair, along with their companion, attracted the attention of concerned onlookers as they loaded scallops on to their boat and fisheries officers were alerted.
When officers intervened they uncovered a stash of 65 scallops on board, 23 of which were undersized. Despite the legal limit restricting scallop harvesting to 20 per person per day in the North Island, the incident occurred within a closed area designated by a full prohibition enacted to safeguard declining scallop populations.
The closed area extends from Ahipara at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach, around North Cape and southwards to Cape Rodney, near Leigh on the east coast.
Edmonds and Haika were charged by the Ministry for Primary Industries for breaching fisheries conditions and pleaded guilty today in the Whangārei District Court before Judge Philip Rzepecky.
Their lawyer, Nick Leader, said it was a case of a “complete oversight” by the pair.
“This is not a matter where they have just gone in brazenly, this was a complete oversight about the prohibition.
“Although they were somewhat undersized, they were snorkelling and did not have the opportunity to measure them until they were back in the boat,” Leader submitted.
The decline of scallops in Northland triggered a full ban in 2022. Source / David Parker previous Minister for Fisheries
MPI prosecutor Leeming did not accept that excuse.
“That’s just not accurate. You must measure in the water with scallops,” Leeming said.
Fishing regulations stipulate snorkellers must measure at the surface of the water, once in the boat, they are deemed as taken.
Judge Rzepecky said despite the fact they had overcaught undersized scallops, they should not have been taking any at all in the first place.
“The reason there is a rāhui on is to conserve them so future generations may have an opportunity to have access to them,” Judge Rzepecky said.
MPI had previously seized all their fishing gear and because the pair pleaded guilty within a month of charges being laid, they were given a 25 per cent discount.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
