Some beg to differ, but toheroa and tuatua are not indistinguishable.
The two men who copped $500 fines from fisheries officers after they took 43 toheroa on 90 Mile Beach (Toheroa don't come cheap, October 3) did not receive a lot of sympathy from Northland Age Facebook readers.
Many felt the fines did not fit the crime, but a Kaitaia lawyer
said he would hope that compliance officers used common sense, when toheroa were indistinguishable from tuatua.
"If not, give me a ring," he added.
Others were less charitable:
* Who's kidding who when fisheries inspectors say they can be mistaken for tuatua? Very easy to tell the difference.
* Not a big enough deterrent/fine for this delicacy ... I would pay $500 just to savour that taste again. But sadly it will only be a fond memory of our trips to our runoff on 90 Mile Beach where we had fun digging for toheroa for lunch and some to take home for dinner.
