Seal the borders: Mahia locals unimpressed with lockdown breaches

Over the weekend some people were found out diving and fishing in Mahia near a group of basking seals. Photo / Eastern District Police

The beaches in Mahia are crowded enough with seals without people from outside the area breaching lockdown to visit, police say.

Over the weekend police working the coastline in Mahia with the support of Ministry for Primary Industries responded to several reports of alert level 4 lockdown restriction breaches.

Some people were found out diving and fishing in Mahia near a group of basking seals, with police issuing a "friendly reminder" that travel was only for accessing essential services.

Mahia police have been conducting checkpoints and patrols around the community since lockdown began.

Early on in the lockdown there were some travel breaches where two large groups of people were found in two holidays homes and had been sent home.

Since then Mahia had been very quiet and police were impressed with the local community's behaviour - a checkpoint on Tuesday found 100 per cent compliance with the lockdown restrictions - a spokesperson said.

The coastal settlement had several people arrive when the lockdown was first announced, with RNZ reporting people had been arriving in vehicles decked out with surfboards, fishing gear and kayaks.

Mahia policeman Constable Chad Prentice said he had turned away two vehicles that had driven close to 500km from Wellington and more than a dozen others from places such as Hamilton, Gisborne and Napier.

"It's people coming to Mahia and treating it as a holiday. They're coming here to park up in the campers because they think it's out of the way, or they're coming here to go fishing," he said.

Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger Jamie Quirk said New Zealand fur seals were a relatively common occurrence along the Mahia coastline and it was not unusual to see them in groups such as this.

"Without knowing the exact location of the photo, it's hard for us to say if this is a particular colony or not."

Based on the ground markings in the photo, Quirk said they had probably been there for some time.

He urged people to stay at least 20 metres away and always keep dogs under control when near seals.

Under alert level 4, activities that may require search and rescue services such as swimming, surfing, boating, hunting, and tramping are not allowed. Risk activities like mountain biking are also advised against.

Recreational fishing and whitebaiting is also not allowed, except for Māori customary fishing and food gathering, though people may not use a boat or enter the water to do so.