KEY POINTS:
Three men are set to face serious charges under the Fisheries Act after a stash of snapper was found hidden in the floorboards of a boat.
Ministry of Fisheries district compliance manager Ian Bright said 85 snapper were hidden in the floorboards of a boat inspected by fishery officers at Kawakawa Bay, in the Firth of Thames east of Auckland, last Sunday.
Mr Bright said three men, together with a 13-year-old boy, had shown the officers a chilly bin containing 36 snapper when approached by the officers.
This was within their legal daily limit as fishers on the east coast of the Auckland region are each entitled to 9 snapper per day.
But the officers found a hidden flap concealed underneath the boat's petrol tank in the floorboards at the rear of the vessel, and subsequently found another hidden flap at the front.
Between them the areas underneath the flaps concealed 85 hidden snapper.
This meant a total of 121 snapper was found on the boat - the equivalent of 13 fishers' legal daily limit.
Mr Bright said the underfloor areas where the fish were found were usually filled with buoyancy material, a vital safety feature in most vessels which help keep the boat afloat if swamped.
He said the ministry was putting together a file on the case and that charges could be expected to be laid in the court system by April.
- NZPA
