Hokianga coast seafood pillage 'too much to handle'

The Ministry of Fisheries is calling for help to crack down on people looting the paua fishery.
The ministry's Northland field operations manager, Darren Edwards, said yesterday that fisheries officers were unable to deal with all the abuse of the Hokianga coast fishery by people taking no heed of the rules concerning paua.
His appeal for help to catch the culprits came after two young Hokianga men who had each taken dozens of undersize paua from the remote beach at Kawerua on the Waipoua Forest coast were each sentenced to 300 hours' community service when they appeared in the Kaikohe District Court last week.
And one of the men, 26-year-old John Te Tawhero Gunn, was also banned from fishing for three years because he had previous serious fisheries convictions.
Gunn, whom fisheries officers caught with 96 undersize paua in January, was ordered to forfeit his dive gear to the Crown.
Daniel Elvis Moke, 25, who was caught with 88 undersize paua, had to forfeit his four-wheel-drive vehicle.
Mr Edwards said the most disappointing aspect of the convictions was that both men were locals and known to fishery officers.
"The northwest coast paua fishery, like all fisheries, is a finite resource and will not sustain the abuse it is now taking from fishers who are showing a total disregard for the fisheries regulations," he said.
"Fishery officers will continue to apply pressure to high-risk areas and fisheries in an attempt to curb this anti-social behaviour, but they cannot be everywhere and we need the public's assistance - especially during these busy summer months."
Mr Edwards urged members of the public to report any suspicious activity to the 0800 4 POACHER freephone number (0800 476 224).
Meanwhile, on Northland's east coast, fisheries officers last month allegedly found two men from Te Ngaere Bay, 30km northeast of Kaeo, with 269 kina, 27 undersize paua, 124 fish of varying species, 22 rock lobster and two illegal fishing nets.
The limit for kina is 50 per person per day and for rock lobster six per person per day.
The limit for paua is 10 per person and they must measure at least 125mm across the widest part of the shell.
The men's fishing boat and a four-wheel-drive vehicle worth about $15,000 were seized, and the men are expected to appear in the Kaikohe District Court early next year.
If they are convicted, their boat and vehicle would be forfeit to the Crown and they could face up to $250,000 in fines.
Mr Edwards said offending on such a scale struck at the core of trying to maintain a sustainable fishery.
"It's up to us fishery officers, supported by responsible members of the public, to make sure people don't get away with this sort of pilfering," he said.