Locals outraged over dumping of snapper

WASTED: Five of the bigger snapper found on Tokerau Beach.

The discovery of a large quantity of snapper, some reportedly as large as 15 or 20 pounds and the majority of the others of a legal size, on Tokerau Beach on Sunday has sparked outrage on the Karikari Peninsula.

As of yesterday no one could be sure how the fish had got there, but the finger was being pointed at commercial fishermen. The Ministry for Primary Industries was understood to be planning to meet with commercial operators based at Mangonui yesterday.

One local said the fish did not appear to have been hooked. He suspected that they had been released or dumped from a net, others suggesting that the dumping of non-target species was not an uncommon commercial practice.

Others noted that a commercial longliner had been working in the bay, targeting skipjack tuna, and that the snapper, for which the fishermen would not have quota, had likely been deliberately dumped.

A photo of some of the fish had been posted on the Karikari Panui Facebook page, attracting 1539 looks and 112 shares as of yesterday morning.

Just how many fish were strewn along the beach, from the Ramp Road area south towards Aurere, wasn't clear, but one local man had reportedly filled two fish bins, and another, who did not wish to be identified, said he had picked up about 40.

Those in the Ramp Road area had generally been well picked-over by seagulls, but some of those further south had been "fresh as".

"It's pretty disgusting," he added. "People have been struggling to catch snapper here for a while, and now we know why."

He had not seen apparent dumping on such a scale before. It wasn't unusual to see fish frames discarded on the beach, but this was a whole different issue.

Those who expressed their views on Facebook echoed those sentiments. Comments posted as of yesterday included: 'This is ***** BAD! We need 2 find these people who (are) responsible.........grrrr.' 'Commercials would be doing **** like this. Over quota, not their target species, this is where the system falls over.' 'Wasn't there a commercial longliner in the bay recently? This is disgusting!' 'That is disgusting, will be keeping my eyes and ears open.' 'We need to get on to this kind of *** ...Kaitiaki come on.' 'What is wrong with people these days! Starving children and people around and they dump their ****.'