KEY POINTS:
A Ministry of Fisheries vehicle was rammed and hundreds of undersize paua have been seized in operations against poachers in Northland.
During two separate incidents, near Hokianga and at Kawerua, west of the Waipoua Forest last month, fisheries officers seized 881 paua - only five of which made the legal minimum length of 125mm.
Eleven people face charges including possessing excess and undersize paua, obstructing fisheries officers and supplying false details. They will appear in the Kaikohe District Court.
Northland compliance manager Darren Edwards said the lawbreaking showed total disregard for fisheries and paua stocks. "The majority of people apprehended are local and quantities of paua are large. There's still considerable information to suggest the paua is being supplied to the black markets in Auckland and further south."
Nationally the legal paua catch is 1057 tonnes but the ministry estimates another 965 tonnes is traded on the black market, shipped overseas or sold domestically.
In the latest Northland crackdown, a 40-year-old Hokianga man allegedly failed to stop for fisheries officers on Kawerua Beach, ramming their vehicle during a chase along the beach. When the four-wheel-drive vehicle became stuck in sand, the driver and a passenger fled into the dunes with fisheries officers in pursuit. One man was charged with possessing excess and undersize paua and failing to stop. Rawene police are helping to track down the second man. The vehicle was carrying 189 paua, only two of which were legal size.
In another incident, it is alleged four men stopped near Waimamaku Beach had four backpacks containing 331 paua, all undersize. The maximum daily take is 10 paua per person.
* Anyone with information on illegal taking of paua can contact MFish on 0800 4 POACHER (0800 476-24).
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
