Country's beaches killed by plunder

By CATHERINE MASTERS

Shellfish are being plundered from some of the country's most popular beaches at such a rate that some populations may not survive.

People are taking up to 20 times the daily limits of cockles, mussels, oysters, pipis and cats-eyes from Auckland and Coromandel beaches.

Other parts of the country also have problems, but Auckland is suffering the most because of its high population.

On the East Coast of the North Island, in Wellington, the Kaikoura coast and Canterbury, paua poaching is the significant problem. Several high-profile court cases have involved paua poachers and dealers.

But the number of people who police Auckland's shellfish beds is being reduced to a handful. In 1999 there were 130 voluntary honorary fisheries officers in the Auckland area. The Ministry of Fisheries is cutting that to just 48 - and they have been ordered for safety reasons to work in pairs.

That leaves just 24 teams covering a region extending from Cape Rodney to Homunga Point (just north of Waihi Beach) in the east and from Muriwai to Port Waikato in the west.

Despite the cuts, officers have made some significant busts in the past few weeks.

* On January 4, four people at Cornwallis, on the northern shores of Manukau Harbour, were found with 361 whelks, 865 cockles, 396 pipis (nearly double the pipi limit and more than 1000 excess of the others). Two people were found with 1730 cats-eyes (1630 excess).

* On December 28, four people were found with 1500 cats-eyes (1300 excess); four were found with 156 mussels (nearly twice the limit); and three with 464 cockles (three times the limit).

* On December 21 at Okoromia Bay, on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, a man and child were caught with 651 cockles (more than six times the limit); three people were caught with 611 cockles.

* Also in December two people were caught with six times the cockle limit at Duders Beach; two people at Okoromia Bay had 1250 cockles, 12.5 times the limit; and three people at Little Huia on the Manukau had 2000 cats-eyes. Cats-eyes are a relatively new target for harvest, usually collected by immigrants who boil them up for stock.

* In November a group of people were caught with 3000 scallops and, when challenged, began throwing them away and trying to hide them.

* At Weymouth in November a man and a child had 450 more oysters than they should, some smaller than a little fingernail.

One honorary fisheries officer, who spoke to the New Zealand Herald anonymously, said the situation was unmanageable and officers were run off their feet. "Every beach you go to there could be 200 to 300 people gathering shellfish."

While an officer tried to police one group, other people along the beach blatantly continued to gather shellfish over the limits.

The man said it would not be long before shellfish at some beaches were wiped out - he called the situation soul-destroying.

"And I'm not Asian bashing or Pacific Island bashing, but the resource is hammered by those people."

A Ministry of Fisheries spokesman, Mike Rose, said that at low tide many beaches were "like a zoo".

People were "hoovering" up shellfish and he feared for the survival of some shellfish beds. Some beaches, such as Eastern Beach in Howick, were already "dead", he said.

"The scary thing is the whole Auckland isthmus is going to end up like Eastern Beach. Collecting shellfish will be one of those things you will tell your kids about."

People of all nationalities ignored signs that clearly stated the limits, some in several languages. "You get all the excuses under the sun ... it is absolute pillage."

A significant number of people were taking 10 or even 20 times the limit.

The ministry's Auckland district compliance manager, Ian Bright, said the number of honorary fisheries officers had been reduced, partly in response to new health and safety legislation.

The ministry was obliged to ensure the officers' safety in an environment that was becoming more dangerous. In November an officer was attacked at Kawakawa Bay, southeast of Auckland.

Mr Bright said the remaining officers would be better supported by uniformed fisheries officers and would be better targeted at problem areas. Even if they could no longer issue infringement orders, they could help pinpoint trouble-spots.

Dave Allen, a senior ministry fisheries adviser in Auckland, said changing habitats, sometimes caused by pollution and stormwater, were also implicated in wiping out beds.

Beds at Long Bay (now a marine reserve), Eastern Beach, Karikari Beach and Cheltenham Beach have been closed. It had been hoped the beds would replenish themselves, but they have not.

The biggest issue at beaches that were still open was people taking more than they were allowed, he said. The ministry had introduced bag limits for some species of fish and number limits for shellfish - but people had to comply.

"We can come up with all the rules that are going to ensure sustainable fishing and allow people to enjoy that activity over the longer term but it will require members of the public to buy into that concept."

* Phone 0800 4 Rules (0800 4 478-537) for information on the rules, or 0800 4 Poachers (0800 4 476-224) to dob in a poacher.

Herald feature: Environment