Shellfish case raises hackles

By JAMES GARDINER

Fisheries officers have been accused of picking on locals gathering shellfish on the coast north of Warkworth instead of targeting visitors who take huge quantities.

Tina Davey, of Warkworth, said groups of Asians were stripping shellfish from Whangateau Beach, yet it was the locals who were being stopped and searched.

But Fisheries Ministry district compliance manager Ian Bright disputed that, saying his staff were instructed to deal even-handedly with the public.

Criminal charges of taking and receiving excess cockles were dismissed this week against Ms Davey, 42, of Pt Wells, after she defended herself in the Warkworth District Court.

She could have been fined up to $20,000 if found guilty.

Ms Davey said she was stunned to be charged three months after being stopped by a local fisheries officer because the excess cockles were in buckets carried by two children who were gathering at the same time as she and her son, Glenn.

The case has ramifications for the way officers target people fishing together, particularly if children are among the group.

Fisheries officer Rachael Davies told the court her policy, if children appeared to be under 14, was to deal with any adult accompanying them.

Ms Davey was charged with personally having cockles three times over the daily limit of 50 after she and Glenn were stopped on the beach along with two other children. They had 350 cockles between them.

Miss Davies said she saw Ms Davey and three children gathering the cockles then coming up the beach together, so assumed the children were under Ms Davey's care.

Wrong assumption, said Ms Davey. She told the court the brother and sister, aged 10 and 12, were known to her and were friends of Glenn but came to the beach independently to gather cockles for their own family.

While she showed them where the best beds were and told them the limit was 50, she was powerless to stop them taking more, she said.

Crown prosecutor Wendy Andrews told Ms Davey that she assumed supervision of the children by showing them where the cockle beds were on potentially dangerous mudflats.

Ms Davey denied that. "If I saw them in trouble I would assist them. Apart from that I had nothing to do with them."

Judge Lindsay Moore told Ms Davey she had been "aggressive, unpleasant and smart" when confronted.

It was entirely reasonable for Miss Davies to assume that the four were together and Ms Davey had said nothing at the time to challenge that notion.

Ms Davey told the court she was irritable when stopped. She was a diabetic, it was just before lunch and her blood sugar level was low.

She had also been under stress because it was the day after her grandfather's funeral.

She felt Miss Davies was abrupt.

Miss Davies said it was Ms Davey who was hostile. She had at first given her name as Joe Bloggs and talked about wanting to hit her.

Judge Moore said Ms Davey had no one but herself to blame. But while her behaviour had the hallmarks of someone caught red-handed, "people can act aggressively and stupidly even when they're in the right" and the Crown had not reached the required standard of proof.

Mr Bright said he was aware that influxes of outsiders caused problems but locals should co-operate with officers.