Eastern Beach on the East Coast of Auckland. Photo / File
By RNZ
Fines totalling $4000 have been handed down to three people who illegally took shellfish from a closed beach in Auckland.
There are 18 signs up at Eastern Beach warning that it is closed to shellfish gathering, to rebuild the population.
But in March last year, fishery
officers caught Jonathan Farrow-Russell, 35, Milika Tulikihakau, 22, and Connie Carter Pooi, 24, with about 1000 cockles between them.
The trio claimed not to have seen the signs and did not know the beach was closed, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said.
