$25,000 paua haul found under bushes

Wellington fisheries officers have discovered an estimated $25,000 worth of paua hidden under bushes near Titahi Bay.

Many of the 2500 shellfish, were under-sized. The quantity is more than 200 times the daily quota for a recreational fisherman.

Legitimately caught paua fetches up to $100 a kilo.

Fisheries officers said the haul was probably bound for the black market and would have ended up in restaurants in New Zealand or Asia.

The shellfish have been frozen as evidence in case of an arrest.

- NEWSTALK ZB