Members of the public are being praised after a high-profile joint Fish & Game and police operation to intercept poachers spotted in a stream.
A local person reported seeing four men last Friday afternoon, one with a rod, in a closed trout spawning area of the upper Utuhina stream.
Fish & Game officers who responded spotted two men holding a gill net "stretched from bank to bank", while a third was attempting to drive fish into the net. A fourth man appeared to be acting as a lookout.
Eastern Fish & Game manager Andy Garrick said the officer called immediately for police assistance and officers "swiftly turned out to the scene".
He said all the officers were grateful to a passing motorist who spotted two of the men fleeing, and directed the pursuing officers. "This quick-thinking motorist allowed us to intercept the offenders - still dripping wet from the stream - and interview them," Mr Garrick said. Two other men were intercepted as they attempted to make off across a nearby reserve.