By ROSALEEN MACBRAYNE
Most shellfish gatherers on the Coromandel Peninsula are flouting bag limits despite maximum fines of $10,000, say fishery officers.
During a blitz in the Whangamata area last weekend, one group of eight people were found at the main boat ramp with 1384 cockles and 247 pipis - 400 over
their legal quota of each.
While officers were dealing with them, others tipped buckets of shellfish into the water, said fishery officer Bruce Wooding.
A car stopped at a road check had double the limit.
The courts could impose fines up to $10,000 and confiscate cars and boats in cases involving more than three times the daily limit, he said.
Fines for lesser offences could be as high as $3000.
Fourteen people will go before the courts or face infringement notice penalties as a result of the Whangamata blitz.
nzherald.co.nz/environment
