Muriwai residents say crowds stripping rocks bare of sealife

A Muriwai resident says crowds regularly strip mussels and shellfish from rocks around the West Auckland beach.

• Locals say crowds are overharvesting mussels and shellfish at Muriwai, impacting the reef ecosystem.
• Muriwai Environmental Trust chairman warns this harms feeding grounds for penguins, gannets, and other seabirds.
• Fisheries NZ urges reporting of illegal activity and stresses the importance of following daily limits.

A Muriwai resident says crowds are stripping rocks bare of mussels and shellfish at the popular West Auckland beach.

Mark Evans told the Herald people are coming and picking off everything from the rocks – even the starfish.

Evans said the groups were on the rocks “daily” at low tide.

“You go past groups of three, they have a whole bucket,” he said.

“You’re only supposed to take 25 [green-lipped mussels] but you hit them up and they have a full bucket of 80-100.

“Anything that moves, it’s going to be in the bucket.”

Muriwai Environmental Trust chairman Richard Wright told the Herald overharvesting has become a serious problem since Muriwai reopened after the cyclone.

“Word got out that it was fair game,” he said.

“It is a race to the last mussel right now. There have been reports of people with large jars shucking mussels on the rocks.”

A Muriwai resident says people regularly fill buckets with hundreds of mussels.

Wright warned that removing mussels, cat’s eyes, and starfish would harm the entire reef ecosystem.

“We are very concerned about the potential impact on the wider ecosystem and feeding grounds of penguins, gannets and other seabirds.”

Evans said some people’s actions were completely unsustainable and needed to stop.

“It’s the mentality of take all and leave nothing and the long-term effects will be we have no lovely ecosystem, we have no lovely shellfish and animals in the rock pools because everything is taken.”

Fisheries New Zealand regional manager north, Andre Espinoza, said taking or possessing excess shellfish could result in infringement notices being issued, or in serious cases prosecution through the courts.

“The daily limit for green-lipped mussels in the Auckland area is 25 per person. For all other mussels – like blue mussels – the daily limit is 50 per person. There is no size limit for mussels,” he said.

“We encourage fishers to use the NZ Fishing Rules app so they know the size and bag limits and the fishing restrictions in their area.

“Following the rules keeps our shared fisheries sustainable so that everyone can enjoy catching and gathering a feed.”

Espinoza said Fisheries NZ encouraged the public to report suspicious or illegal fishing activity by calling 0800 4 POACHER (0800 47 62 24).

“Information like descriptions of the suspicious activity and those involved, including registration numbers if vehicles are involved, are helpful for our fishery officers.”

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