Police and Ministry of Primary Industries seize over 700 undersize paua in Taranaki

Paua - undersized and in excess of legal catch limit. Photo / Supplied

Investigations are continuing after four people were found with a total of 736 paua in the Taranaki last week, most of them undersized.

Traditionally large numbers of people have taken excessive amounts of shellfish, particularly paua, during this time of year on low tides.

In a joint operation on State Highway 45 near Okato, police and the Ministry of Primary Industries stopped and inspected cars over two days last week.

The checkpoint ran over two days and resulted in one set net being seized and a number of people given infringements and fines totalling $1750.

MPI spokesman Jason Howat said the south Taranaki coastline is a high-risk area of offending and said the discovery of hundreds of undersized paua was "staggering".

"What was staggering was the discovery of four people with a total of 736 paua, 703 of which were undersized," he said.

"Investigations are continuing into this. A vehicle used in this offending was seized by fishery officers. The people involved will likely face serious fisheries charges."

MPI fishery officers inspect part of the illegal haul. Photo / Supplied

Howat said it was an extremely disappointing find given the fact the region has a lower minimum legal size catch limit of 85mm, smaller than the rest of the country. The maximum daily bag limit per person is 10 pāua.

"This is because the Taranaki paua are naturally small and never reach the minimum legal size of 125mm that applies to the rest of the country.

"They also mature and breed at a much smaller size. So they are particularly vulnerable from the outset," he said.

Fishery officers returned all of the paua back to the ocean and Howat said the checkpoint was very worthwhile, for their own and police's benefit.

Police breath tested in excess of 500 drivers during and as a result, two drivers will appear in the New Plymouth District Court for driving with excess breath alcohol.