Wheelies much worse for beaches than poachers

Laurie Austen suspects that every vehicle driven on 90 Mile Beach does some damage, but hoons are the worst offenders.

Waimanoni man Laurie Austen has no problem with toheroa poachers being fined, but he does have difficulty with the concept that poachers represent the greatest threat to the totally protected species on 90 Mile Beach.

Mr Austen, who has devoted many years to working to protect kaimoana and the marine environment generally, said vehicles were killing thousands of toheroa and tuatua for every one that was poached.

"It is quite difficult to observe damage done to toheroa by vehicles driving in straight lines, although I believe most human use of the beach will probably be having some detrimental effect," he said.

"Whether these detrimental effects are acceptable or manageable would take a considerable amount of study, although a very comprehensive study on Oreti Beach [in Southland] did show vehicle impacts on toheroa, particularly close to beach entry and exit points, possibly because of accelerating or braking."

By far the greatest cause of death amongst juvenile toheroa on 90 Mile Beach, however, was thoughtless driving.

"Burnouts, wheelies and donuts are devastating, particularly to juvenile toheroa and tuatua," he said.

"I have considerable video evidence to support the fact that thousands can be killed in a single accelerating turn. It is simply not possible to to 90 Mile without seeing people ripping up the beach in cars, quads, trucks or bikes, apparently having no concern for the damage they are doing.

"Perhaps locals who genuinely have the best interests of the beach and its environs at heart need to start making their distaste apparent. Filming offenders, who could be fined up to $20,000 for disturbing toheroa, would be a good start," he added.

"Some signs informing people of the repercussions for damage done would be a good idea too."

The Ministry for Primary Industries had twice told him that it was not in the position to deter driving over shellfish beds, however. The beach was classed as a road, giving the public access as of right, while traffic came under the jurisdiction of the police, the Far North District and Northland Regional councils.

"Although the offence of disturbing toheroa is one of strict liability, in order to prove a case we would need to show that there was a deliberate act on the part of the driver in an area where the driver knew there was a likelihood of disturbing toheroa," it added.