Hawke's Bay's only marine reserve has been raided by poachers.
The recent night-time raid at Te Angiangi Marine Reserve disappointed the Department of Conservation's management and rangers.
Members of the public found two men acting suspiciously at the reserve about 7pm on October 22.
They confronted the men, one of whom was wearing a wetsuit and was seen exiting the reef.
The men said they had been given permission from the local DoC ranger to gather paua. Conservation spokesman Dave Carlton said this was not possible.
The men drove off south to Blackhead Beach in a black four door Ford Falcon Sedan exiting through the campground at high speed.
They left behind their catch bag full of paua, homemade paua knife and weight belt.
The two witnesses immediately rang the local DoC ranger and handed over the catch bag and equipment that was left behind. The Ministry of Primary Industries and Police were also contacted.
The ranger measured the catch and found 70 paua, 34 of these were under 125mm, which is the legal size limit for gathering outside of a marine reserve. The daily bag limit outside a reserve is 10 per person. However, the marine reserve is a no-take zone. Mr Carlton said it was worrying that this was a "deliberate attack" on a protected area.
"The two offenders clearly knew what they were doing and also showed no respect for either size or the number they were prepared to take."
The department is keen to hear from anyone who has information on this.
One man was described as being Maori or a Pacific Islander about 25 to 35 years old while the second man was a European of slim build aged about 16 to 25 years old.
Marine Reserve offences are strict liability and offenders cannot claim that they did not know of the reserve or they had not seen signage. People found offending under the Marine Reserves Act can face fines of $10,000, three months in prison and/or forfeiture of property.
Last year, a Flaxmere man was fined $850 after attempting to take four kina from the reserve.