The theory is that crab fishers panicked after realising there were fishery officers about and dumped the illegal catch.
Bizarrely, when officers tried to find the crabs, they were gone.
The person who found them said they did not smell- so they were fresh. But it beggars belief that they were fresh enough to be thrown back into a vehicle after a day in the sun and eaten?
Although someone ignorant enough to dump them in the first place may be stupid enough to pick them up again and eat them.
Commercial fishers have had the finger pointed at them, but the location of the dumping suggests recreational crab hunters.
Which points the finger at the hordes of visitors from Auckland that travel north to catch crabs.
At some point, there will be physical conflict between locals and visiting crab fishers.
Because there is a resentment at the "take" mentality of the fishers, who don't just take, they "leave behind" as well.
Generally, it's rubbish on the beach, and pig and chicken offal used to attract the crabs.
These things wash up on the beach and nature takes care of them eventually, but it's a sight locals find hard to stomach.
Much like crabs cooked after a day in the sun.
If there is any coastal karma, whoever dumped the crabs and picked them up again has spent a few days curled up with food poisoning, and has lost the desire to eat another crab ever again.
