Illegal seafood raids on the menu for Auckland restaurants

By PHILIP ENGLISH

Raids by Fisheries Ministry officers searching for illegal seafood at 40 Asian restaurants in Auckland before Chinese New Year late last month will have a sequel today.

A meeting between ministry staff and Asian restaurateurs will discuss the issue of illegal seafood - and the frustration the raids caused to staff and customers celebrating the New Year.

National Party list MP Pansy Wong said the meeting in Auckland would address the problem of "the stripping of our beaches by largely non-Asian suppliers of illegal seafood".

She accepted that some Chinese restaurants had been caught in the past with illegal seafood, mainly paua and lobster, but she understood the source tended to be non-Asian people.

Mrs Wong likened the raids to Government officials turning up at other restaurants on Christmas Eve looking for illegal turkeys.

"There is an issue with timing and the way the raids were done."

She understood the raids on the Chinese restaurants did not turn up illegal seafood.

Mrs Wong said it was time for the ministry and restaurants to come to an understanding to stop the trade in illegal seafood.