Police ambush paua pirates

Fisheries officers in Wairarapa have seized over 700 shucked and mostly undersized paua at Castlepoint - after earlier discovering the remains of about 900 plundered shellfish dumped beside a Masterton river at the weekend.
Police and fisheries officers seized 708 shucked paua and a car at Mataikona, near Castlepoint, after the paua was discovered in the boot of the vehicle during a routine fisheries patrol in the area about 4.30pm on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, the fisheries officers had watched a group of people gathering paua among rocks at Mataikona.
Three vehicles with 10 people inside were later stopped on their way back to Masterton.
One of the vehicles was found to have paua and dive gear in the boot.
None of the group admitted taking the shellfish.
The paua, which had been shucked, ranged in weight from 18-130 grams, which meant a large quantity of the catch was undersize.
Ray McKay, field operations manager for the Hawke's Bay/Wairarapa area, said that last week Masterton-based fisheries officers had seized 145 paua they believed were gathered by the same group in the Castlepoint area.
He said this meant about 1000 paua had been seized in the area within the past week.
Fisheries officers had earlier the same day recovered about 900 paua shells, mostly undersized, that were found dumped beside the Ruamahanga River - two piles of about 300 shells apiece near Black Rock Rd and another of similar size further east along the riverside, which appeared to have been abandoned over the weekend.
"This is extremely disappointing," Mr McKay said.
"Although gaining voluntary compliance from the recreational sector is the ministry's first priority, we have no hesitation in putting those who blatantly breach fisheries legislation before the courts."
Mr McKay urged members of the public to continue using the 0800 4 POACHER (0800 476 224) hotline if they see any suspicious behaviour at beaches or any remote locations.
"The Wairarapa coast is vast and the only way we will make any significant inroads into this environmental theft is with the help of the Wairarapa public," he said.
Mr McKay also said he wished to acknowledge the ongoing support police provide to the two Masterton-based fisheries officers.
The Masterton fisheries officers also seized about 7kg of minced paua from a fundraising stall at the Martinborough Fair on Saturday.
The stallholders face a maximum fine of $250,000 if charged and successfully prosecuted for acquiring paua from a source other than a licensed fish receiver or retail outlet.