Some of the 175 scallops collected by two men in the Bay of Islands which were undersize and well over the daily catch limit of 20 a person.
Some of the 175 scallops collected by two men in the Bay of Islands which were undersize and well over the daily catch limit of 20 a person.
Two Northland men who collected excess and undersize scallops in the Bay of Islands then used a false retrospective customary permit to try to cover up their illegal catch have been fined nearly $5000.
They also had their dive gear and boat seized after they were caught with 175 scallops.
In another incident, a Whangarei man had his vehicle confiscated when he was caught with 125 scallops, well over the 20 scallops a day limit.
Fisheries officials are warning they will be out inspecting catches over the summer period and through to the end of the scallop season in March.
In Kaikohe District Court last week Stephen Heta, 29, from Te Tii, and Manuao Kirkwood, 24, of Whangarei, appeared jointly charged with possessing scallops less than the legal length and in excess of the daily limit.
Heta faced another charge of making a false or misleading statement in a record. The court heard the duo had been diving for scallops on February 21.
They took the scallops ashore to two women waiting at Wairoa Bay, near Waitangi, before heading out to fish.
A police constable, who was acting under his powers as a fisheries officer, inspected the catch and found 175 scallops, 16 of which were shelled and 145 were under the minimum legal size of 100mm.
Later that night, when the two men were spoken to, they produced a kaimoana customary permit.
However, not only had they obtained the permit well after they had landed the scallops, they had also altered and damaged the permit to make it look like they could take 160 scallops.
The permit issuer had given a permit to them to collect 100 kina and had not issued a permit to gather scallops.
They were also unaware the men already had their catch. Customary permits cannot be issued or used retrospectively.
Dive gear seized after the men were nabbed with excess scallops.
Heta admitted he had obtained the permit after diving for 100 scallops destined for a tangi.
Kirkwood said he had been freediving for the scallops and did not know the rules about gathering under a permit or the recreational size limit or daily catch numbers.
Both were fined $1800 each in relation to the excess and undersized scallops, and Heta was fined a further $750 for the false statement and $390 court costs.
The women received a written warning in relation to their involvement.
MPI compliance manager for Northland Steve Rudsdale said scallops had been in abundance at the beginning of the season but there were now fewer legal shellfish around.
"People need to be aware of measuring their catch and measuring at the first opportunity. If you are diving, that is on the bottom as you pick them up," Mr Rudsdale said.
Fisheries, along with Maritime NZ, would be making regular patrols with Maritime NZ officials checking for the correct use of dive flags and lifejackets.
The ministry encourages the public to report any suspicious fishing activity on 0800 4 POACHER (0800 476-224). All calls are confidential.
