MPI fishery officers have caught a group of fishers with more than 45 times the daily snapper limit.

Late last week, two fishery officers were doing boat inspections at the Halfmoon Bay boat ramp in East Auckland.

During these checks they found a group of 5 recreational fishers with what appeared to be a large haul of fish on board.

MPI’s West North Island regional fish compliance manager Andre Espinoza said “a closer inspection by our fishery officers discovered they had 348 fish. Most (317) were snapper, with a total weight of just under 200kg. 95 of the snapper they had were undersize.”

The 5 fishers will likely face prosecution under the Fisheries Act and their vessel has been seized by Ministry for Primary Industries.

The daily limit for catching snapper on the East Coast of Auckland in the Hauraki Gulf is 7 per person with a minimum size of 30cm.

“We work hard to protect fishing resources so that current and future generations can enjoy catching a feed of kaimoana.”

“When people take this obviously illegal haul of fish – along with many of them being undersize – they threaten the sustainability of the fishery.”

“The rules are there for a reason and when we find evidence of deliberate rule-breaking, you can be assured we will take action”