KEY POINTS:
Six people are facing prosecution and some could lose their cars after recent operations aimed at catching shellfish gatherers who exceeded legal limits.
Ministry of Fisheries district compliance manager Brendon Mikkelsen said fisheries officers had carried out vehicle checks and patrols in Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.
Officers came across "classic examples of greed and stupidity, involving large numbers of paua and pipi", Mr Mikkelsen said.
He said a checkpoint at Kiritehere in Waikato stopped and checked cars for paua on Saturday.
It was disappointing that only six drivers had either not been gathering paua or were within the legal limit of 10. The four worst offenders had 247 paua between them.
All four were likely to be prosecuted and one man, who was caught with 95 paua, could see his vehicle forfeited to the ministry if he were found guilty.
In the Maketu area in the Bay of Plenty a man was found to have 144 paua in his vehicle - all of them undersized.
Another man in the same area was caught with 750 pipi in his car, five times the legal limit.
Because the man tried to run away while a fisheries officer was taking his details, he was likely to face more serious charges.
"Had he stayed and co-operated he would probably have faced a minor prosecution carrying a maximum fine of $10,000," Mr Mikkelsen said. "Because he chose to abscond, he will probably now be facing a serious obstruction charge with a maximum fine of $250,000 and the almost-certain forfeiture of his vehicle."
Fisheries resources were finite, and the ministry would not tolerate those who took more than their fair share, he said.
- NZPA
