Case of the disappearing shellfish

Shellfish numbers have fallen dramatically at such places as Cheltenham Beach on the North Shore. Picture / Brett Phibbs

Blatant breaches of shellfish limits with sackfuls of pipi being hauled off popular harvesting beaches has left the Ministry of Fisheries with a conundrum: does it cut the take limits for Aucklanders or increase them, since so many people seem to be ignoring them?

Shellfish restrictions around Auckland and Coromandel Peninsula, in place for seven years, are already tougher than anywhere else in the country.

In some cases a third less shellfish can be harvested around the Hauraki Gulf than anywhere else.

"The take limit has been in place for a few years now but people are just breaking and ignoring it," said Ministry of Fisheries analyst Richard Fanselow. "Some are taking several times over the limit easily."

Mr Fanselow is in charge of a major review of shellfish harvesting limits around Greater Auckland, from just south of Cape Rodney to the Thames coast and down as far as Port Waikato.

While a clampdown on the 50-per-person-per-day limit for pipi, cockles and tuatua was a possibility, he said, the ministry wanted local communities to decide how to solve the problem of receding shellfish beds.

"Everything has to be on the agenda but [cutting limits] is not something we want to go to," Mr Fanselow said.

"What we really want people to do is get involved and then tell us what they want."

The ministry has asked the Hauraki Gulf Forum, a group of lay people and local government politicians responsible for protecting the Hauraki Gulf, to help it contact coastal communities affected by any change in the rules.

"We have a number of tools in the toolbox - daily limits and closing areas, for example - but if people think the limits are too low, then we may have to look at increasing it, but we just don't know," Mr Fanselow said.

Bruce Davies has been gathering cockles and pipi at Whangateau Harbour, north of Warkworth, for more than 40 years. It is one of the most popular pipi and cockle bed spots in the North Island, and Mr Davies believes two-thirds of the giant pipi bed has gone. He wants it closed before it's too late.

"I'm nearly 60 and it's nothing like it was when I was young," he said.

"We didn't even get our feet wet. These days you have to wade into waist-deep water."

In a recent case poachers at Whangateau gathered about 6000 cockles, but were caught.

Huge amounts of shellfish are taken from the harbour every year.

"I've seen up to 400 people gathering pipis on one day," Mr Davies said.

Locals were increasingly worried, he said.

"Patrols have hugely improved over the past few years but there's still a long way to go. Local people can see what's going on and [fisheries officers] are not always there."

Auckland University marine scientist Dr Richard Ford cautioned against believing all shellfish beds were dying out but said the heaviest populated areas did have the most-depleted beds.

"There are more questions than answers but if we want to continue harvesting shellfish we probably have to be cautious in what we're taking out of the system."


Shellfish limits

* Auckland/Coromandel: Cockles, pipi, tuatua - 50 daily a person.
* Everywhere else: 150 daily a person.