A Tauranga food business is alleged to be involved in the sale of paua and kina.
Ministry for Primary Industries District Compliance Manager Waikato and Bay of Plenty Brendon Mikkelsen said this week's operation was the result of 12 months of investigation and analysis into black market activity.
During the time, it is believed 231kg of minced paua with a commercial value of $30,000 was poached and sold.
It is believed 43 litres of kina were poached and sold for $3500.
Mr Mikkelsen said paua and kina are a prized resource in Bay of Plenty.
"Paua and kina don't move around much and need to be in reasonable numbers to successfully reproduce. Such offending in concentrated areas may impact on the species ability to breed and on other people's opportunity to gather."
"People like this are effectively thieving seafood from their own communities to make a quick buck."
Mr Mikkelsen said fishery officers would be going through the seized electronic equipment and doing further investigations before considering laying charges.
"We'd like to hear from anyone who may have information that will help us with our inquiries."
Please report any suspicious fishing related activity to the 0800 4POACHER hotline (0800 4 762 243).
Total items seized:
116 kg of paua
Two freezers
35 electronic devices, including computers, tablets and cell phones
Diving gear
