Fisheries raid angers restaurateurs

By RENEE KIRIONA

Officers from the Ministry of Fisheries have raided 40 restaurants and suppliers in search of illegal seafood.

Among those raided were Asian-owned businesses in Auckland stocking up for the Chinese New Year, which started on Wednesday.

While no black-market produce was found at any of the sites, staff at the Ding How Chinese Restaurant claim they were treated like criminals when the officers inspected their Albert St premises on Wednesday night.

Restaurant managers Samyna Tam and Ronald Chau said they had nothing against the check itself, but were disgruntled at the treatment they received.

"I don't have any problems with them coming here, but their attitude was so rude it makes me think that maybe because we are Chinese they feel they can do that," Mrs Tam said.

"I feel like they treated us like criminals and fair enough if they found something but they didn't."

The law allows the ministry to undertake unannounced checks to deter those who have illegal produce.

Four ministry officers, and a cameraman filming a programme on the black-market for fish, visited the restaurant, where more than 100 people were dining.

Mr Chau claimed an officer had told him he would be "handcuffed and taken to court" if anything illegal was found.

He also said the same officer pointed his finger at him in a rude manner.

"That night was the busiest night we've ever had because it was the eve of the Chinese New Year.

"I was pouring water into the boiler and he [the officer] stood at the door pointing his finger at me to come to him. I told him I'll be there as soon as I've finished pouring and he told me 'no, right now'."

The managers were also concerned about not being told why the cameraman was present.

"I asked him [the cameraman] what he was doing and all he said was that he was trying to catch the bad people."

However, ministry spokesman Ian Bright denied there was any intentional mistreatment and the Chinese New Year, which ran from January 21 to 24, was an ideal time to carry out the patrols.

"This is the reality of our job. We have to turn up unannounced regardless of whether it is busy or not at the premises we are patrolling," Mr Bright said.

"Unfortunately we have found that during the Chinese New Year, the demand for paua and rock lobster in the Asian communities skyrockets.

"We would be remiss if we never took this opportunity to carry such patrols out at this time."