June 2025 - 237 The Fishing Paper and Hunting News
• Young fisher of the year - pg 6
• Thermal Imaging - what does it all mean ? - pg 8
• Fishing rules - apply to all - page 10
We’re a motley crew, my pig dogs and I, as we set out in pursuit of a porker. I’m an older woman sporting two limps, one for each leg and my dogs, their torsos show evidence of excessive kidney fat, and their tongues are lolling in the unseasonal heat. April, and calendars don’t lie but summer has proven to be an overstayer with autumn still playing hide ’n’ seek. Still, there’s a new hunting permit in my ute glove box so I’m here to party –slowly, and with three overweight and under-conditioned dogs as besties.
Of pigs there is no sign. There is nothing for them here. The creeks are dry, the grasses are shrivelled, and the soil is dust. If we could find a pig, we’d most certainly catch it as it would surely be emaciated and weak. But no, there is no pig to be found, despite our best e orts.
Oh, the dogs do find canine treasures, but I’m anything other than impressed. First Chop finds the litter-tray of a feral cat; he celebrates by dropping his shoulder into it and wriggling with glee –whoopee. Later, Gin, not to be outdone, is on her back and with all fours in the air as she wallows on a maggoty possum carcass.
Nugget remains hard working and conscientious, that’s my boy! But, yeah nah, eventually he returns from a sortie with sloppy black pig shit smeared from his ears to his elbows – talk about party-pooper.
The common denominator, in all three cases, are the smears of stink and the location of the smears of stink. Whether its foulsmelling decomposition, tacky black excrement or soft, sloppy pig pooh, each dog has managed to get maximum coverage of their tracking collar, and more particularly, of the buckles of their collars.
You know who’s going to take
Turd Time's a Charm
Kim Swan
those collars o ? It’s me.
Despite how carefully I try to avoid contamination from buckles caked in gag-inducing matter, I’m going to get it on my hands. I do. Three times.
The dogs, in all their perfumed glory, rest in the dog box, while I decide to go walkabout without them. I shoulder my rifle and limp away with a scowl and my nose turned up. I’d like to wash my hands or even wipe them, but the creek is dry, and the grass all shrivelled.
Stealthily I ascend a rock-strewn creek bed, a ribbon of open ground between walls of forest. As I climb it gets steeper and wider. A light rain becomes steadier and the temperature plummets. Perhaps, finally, autumn is making its presence felt.
Higher still and the face opposite is now all open ground, while I am well hidden in the sea of pine-treegreen and there, feeding on lichen and titbits of woody scrub, is a fallow doe and her fawn.
I settle on the wet pine needles, grateful to take the weight o my damaged legs, and then I wait. Sure enough, a second doe joins
The Fishing Paper & Hunting News
the first and she too has a fawn for company. I’m certain if I am patient I will be rewarded with a buck.
As the wee deer forage, they pause often to look and scent. They regularly glance over their shoulders at a clump of scrub, so I’m not surprised to see their suitor steal from cover when he’s certain the coast is clear. He is young and thin and certainly no trophy buck.
Disappointed, I set my rifle aside. Instead, I swing my camera bag into my lap and ever-so-slowly unzip it. Damn, the camera is twice-wrapped in a bread bag, poor-man’s waterproofing on this damp day. Double-damn, the plastic bag makes a hell of a racket as I ever-so-slowly unfurl it and free my camera from its clutches. Luckily the hyper-alert wee deer feed on, still unaware of my existence.
Moisture drips from above and absorbs from below but I continue to sit tight, camera in-hand. There is no hurry. The does daintily skitch about on the rock outcrops, and the buck pushes into heavily browsed coprosmas, using his weight to reach green treats. The sun pokes shafts of light through the clouds and the fawns play and frisk.
If it weren’t for the stench on my hands as they held the camera to my face this would be bliss.
A gentle warmth wins over the dismal damp and tendrils of thermals rise towards the sky. The tiniest of air movements begin, washing like an incoming tide over the folds and crevices of the land. The lead doe pauses, raises her nose high, nostrils wide and draws in various scents. I see her body language change. The other doe also observes the change and watches her friend for a cue. They move closer together and appear to confer – “what’s that smell?”
A fawn joins them, then three finefeatured faces raise noses high. Drawing in breath the first doe says to the second, “is that cat shit or pig shit I can smell?”
Nervous now, they change their stance and lift their tails.
They sni and sni again – “no, its not just shit, it’s something else, something dead.”
I’m sprung - the little group of fallows, so close across the way, inhale deeply for a third and final time before concluding that they can smell all the above –cat excrement, pig excrement and something dead – but they can also smell something most definitely alive and that smell is worse than all the rest, it’s a human.
Single file they trot for cover, their beau ghosting behind. He is not remotely chivalrous or protective, he’s just reluctant to leave feed for the sea of pine-treegreen. There’s no tucker there. Rut over, life’s priority for him is finding sustenance and regaining condition before winter.
Speaking of sustenance, I’m ready for lunch, but not before putting away and feeding my stinking dogs and life’s priority for me, washing my stinking hands, twice, and then maybe once more!
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Andy reels in a Whopper
The annual Snapper Cup is a highlight of the Dawnbreakers Fishing Club calendar. As has been the case for most of the summer, the sea conditions didn’t match the forecast on the Saturday. This didn’t stop us heading to one of our favourite spots, albeit one closer in to the Boulder Bank.
After setting up a whole pilchard on the stray line, and a slow jig o the back of the boat, we settled in to fish. We caught some good
Carol Brannen
sized gurnard, a kahawai and a mackerel, but no sign of any snapper. We were discussing moving to another spot, when the stray line started whining. Andy grabbed it first, and just as well, as something big was taking line. The rest of us pulled up our lines, while Andy battled to gain ground. After a few minutes, the fight went out of the fish and it surfaced.
To our delight it was the biggest snapper we had ever seen! Jasper manned the net, and we got it safely on board.
Andy’s previous PB snapper had come in at 19lb, just short of the elusive 20lb mark. This snapper weighed a hefty 22lb, and measured 83.5cm. A new personal best for Andy, who went on to take the second place for biggest snapper in the Snapper Cup. What a memorable day out!
Opening Weekend
The 2025 duck hunting opening weekend shaped up to be di erent. I was looking at heading to my roots in the Waikato, but lack of rain there made it very dry in the swamp. Thankfully, I could tag along with my father-in-law, Barry, to a property in North Canterbury.
Then came the weather warnings for extreme rain, which was a concern, as to get onto the property, we had to ford a small river. Talking with the farmer, he crossed it with the water just below the headlights of his 4wd. That was early in the week with the rivers still rising.
It was time to pack the car to head up to the farm on Thursday night. It was loaded with everything I thought I’d need, including sleeping gear, cookers, and water in case we could not make it in and ended up camping elsewhere. This also included all my di erent blinds, laydown, pop-up, camo nets and poles.
It was time to make the journey up north of Christchurch, where there was a lot of water around and plenty of ducks taking advantage of it. I made it to the farmer’s gate without any issues of closed roads or washouts. The water across the ford was low enough to cross safely, but looking at the tide mark, it wouldn’t have been passable at the peak. Quickly dropping my gear o into the shearers’ quarters, we were o to the pond to set up the decoys and check the condition of the pond. A Friday night decoy set up is di erent to what we normally do. This gave us a chance to see how high the water was and if the hide would be huntable.
The pond was very full, with about 25mm of water over the floor of the hide. There was a coating of mud on top of the wood, which made the floor slippery. Time for me to jump in the rowboat and set the decoys out while the others built their hides to give the pond coverage.
With the set up mostly done the night before, we got a sleep-in, at least on opening morning. Getting out of bed just after 5.00am with a relaxed breakfast and getting the blind bags sorted, we were set up at the pond at 6.30am, ready to go. We didn’t have to wait too long before we started getting some birds flying around. I struggled early on to see them in the dark against the background of some pine trees. The others got into some birds, which pushed a shoveler straight over my head, and with a single shot, I bagged the bird. This was a great start to my morning and a confidence booster.
Gareth Faulkner
The ducks kept trickling in and decoying well. We were able to make the most of the smaller groups they were in, with not many birds getting away. With the birds who did sneak in, we were able to share them. They didn’t have a chance to get out again without having to go past one of us. This happened a few times as I was looking in the wrong direction when they were coming in from behind.
The morning ticked along quite fast, and I had mostly clean kills with only one duck that might have been wounded but was found dead not far from where it went into the willows. There were some shocking complete misses, but these were taken care of by the others. The absolute example of this was a swan crossing at about 20 metres, three shots from me with complete misses, but Barry was onto it with
a beautiful 50 metre shot from his position.
The highlight of my morning was two separate ducks that had already been shot at, with the other ducks being taken. By calling very aggressively on “The Mutt,” I pulled them back over the hide and killed them while flying through fast and high.
There was plenty of shooting around the region, with some sounding very close. I can only assume it was on the river nearby. It was tough as it appeared with all the water lying in paddocks around the district, the ducks were quite happy to hole up on this instead of coming to the pond.
Looking around, there were puddles with up to a dozen ducks in places, and they were well dispersed around the area. Ace had a great morning and was as eager as ever. For a 10-year-old labrador, he is working great and not showing his age.
We packed up at 11.00am with the final pick up of birds. We had 47, including four shovelers, two paradise ducks and a swan. It was a great morning hunt for the four of us, and overall, I was happy with how I shot.
After lunch, we went and stalked a few stretches of the river that runs through the property. We targeted the area where we could get on top of the birds. We picked up another three mallards, bringing our total to 50 birds.
As the night shoot loomed, we split up. Two of the guys headed to the main pond, Barry went to a night pond he had been feeding to see what might turn up there. I decided to sit under some willows next to a flooded paddock.
I got set up with just my mojo decoy running intermittently, but I needed to relieve myself and had two ducks whipping in low and fast. I wasn’t quick enough to react. Then another two ducks came wheezing past in the opposite direction to where I was looking.
This was frustrating, but it’s all part of the sport and keeps it fresh and challenging.
Not too much later, I pulled a single hen into the mojo and took her cleanly with one shot. A nice, simple retrieve for Ace over the flooded paddock. This was a fun little night shoot, even with only one duck being shot.
The other ponds had some good shooting with another 14 birds coming from them, bringing our Saturday total to a respectable 65 birds, a great day out.
Sunday morning was a slower start, with even Ace needing some encouragement to get out of the vehicle. Barry and I headed to the main pond to see what would happen. This also allowed for an easy pack up of the decoys and hides. The others went to try a di erent morning pond.
We had a slow morning with only a few birds flying about. We had four mallards come straight in and land down the other end of the pond to
where we were set up. I sneaked over the stop bank to try and push them back towards Barry, but when I was right where they landed and about 10 metres short of where I wanted to pop up. Barry started calling, and there was a single drake circling. I quickly stopped and tried to stay as still as possible. The drake dropped down to about 30 metres and flew directly over my head. Deciding that a bird in the hand is better than the what ifs with the four on the pond. I stood up, missed with
the first shot, gave it a bit more lead and down it came.
The other four got up but stayed low so I couldn’t get a shot over the stop bank. Three went out the wrong way, but one went towards Barry, but unfortunately, it made its escape. That ended my opening weekend, I was happy it ended on a high note of that final drake. The others got three on the other pond and a total tally of 69 birds for the weekend, and some might say a very nice number indeed.
The real work began after some morning tea and co ee, with the start of processing all the birds. Four hours later, all the mallards plucked and gutted (except for a handful too shot up or full of pin feathers, which had the breast and legs taken o them), the swan and paradise ducks were breasted, ready for the pot.
Thanks to Barry for organising the hunt and doing all the hard work. Stay tuned for other adventures for the season, and I hope all those who headed out had a successful weekend and good luck for the rest of the season.
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Making connections at the Hutchwilco Boat Show
For several years now, Fisheries New Zealand has been at the Hutchwilco Boat Show in Epsom connecting with fishers and the public about local fisheries, the recreational fishing rules, how people can play their part in keeping their fishery healthy for future generations, and much more.
We were there again this year, and the turnout was superb. More than 32,000 people visited the show and a fair few of them stopped by to talk with our fisheries sta and Fishery O cers.
It’s great to see so many people visiting our stand and the breadth of questions they had about New Zealand’s fisheries, says Senior Fisheries Analyst, Marty Bowers.
“We get a lot of repeat visitors year on year and plenty of new ones who are starting out as recreational fishers, or people just wanting to know more about how it all works,” says Marty.
“The show is also a good opportunity for keen anglers to get new fish rulers and to brush up on any new rule changes, discuss fisheries management matters, and find out about how they can get the latest news and info from Fisheries New Zealand.
“We always encourage people to download the free NZ Fishing Rules App so they can have the latest rules in their pocket. Once downloaded, the App will work even when there’s no mobile phone coverage – it makes sense to have it. Another way to keep on top of what’s happening in your local fishery is to subscribe to our recreational fisheries mailing list.
“This year, we were pleased to be invited to help out with the first ever ‘Two Hooked’ fishing competition. The competition has fishing pairs from all over New Zealand battling it out for the title of ‘Ultimate Fishing Pair of The Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show’. We prepared a few
‘Two Hooked’ competitors work out the fish ID task at the Fisheries New Zealand stand
tricky fish identification tasks for the contestants, and we were impressed with the answers people came up with.”
Connecting with us:
• Subscribe to the recreational fisheries mailing list to get information directly from us about a range of fisheries topics for your local area.
• Keep on top of the rules by downloading the free NZ Fishing Rules App from wherever you get your apps, and turn on ‘updates’ so you always have the latest version.
• Follow us on Facebook. Look for our regional fisheries pages by searching ‘MPI – Fisheries’ on Facebook. We’ve recently launched a new Facebook page for the Auckland region so if you’re heading that way or if it’s your local area, follow us.
• For more information, visit our website www.mpi.govt.nz/rules
FNZ sta at the Boat Show
Connecting with the next generation of rec fishers at the Boat Show
Sunderland Marine
Young Fisher of the Year Award
Spear fisher and Strait Speared founder Cole Robinson has been named the 2025 Sunderland Marine Young Fisher of the Year for his entrepreneurship, innovative fishing solutions and commitment to providing quality fish locally.
Robinson, 26, founded Strait Speared in 2022 after set-net closures along the West Coast of the North Island functionally ended Wellington’s commercial inshore butterfish fishery.
Robinson, along with business partner Thomas Strawbridge, applied for a special permit to trial spearfishing as a viable commercial alternative and have spent the past three years developing relationships with local Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington restaurants, such as Graze and Rosella, that were keen to put this sustainably harvested protein on their menus.
Spreading their catch along the whole coast to reduce overfishing (Robinson and Strawbridge are talented spear fishers, coming in ninth in the Spearfishing Nationals 2024), each fish is handpicked, individually speared and immediately cleaned and put on ice in reusable food-safe packaging.
But entrepreneurship is never smooth sailing. Strait Speared’s special permits still mandated compliance with existing commercial fishing regulations, so Robinson and Strawbridge each completed their skipper’s
tickets and continue to comply with geospatial reporting requirements, having valid annual catch entitlements (ACE) for their butterfish and investing in diving gear at personal financial cost.
Young Fish co-founder and award creator Ben Pierce says Robinson embodies everything the award represents – a solutions-focused mentality and a passion for the industry.
“Cole saw a gap in the industry and adapted his fishing methods and business practices to meet a clear need. We loved how he took the initiative to trial a new approach for the butterfish fishery and keep it alive in the Wellington area,” says Pierce.
Sunderland Marine representative Nicki Peacey says they were thrilled with the calibre of finalists and that it was a hard choice to narrow it down to Robinson. “We look forward to seeing how he continues to invest in Strait Speared and his career as a fisher and business owner. Cole and Tom have a great future in the fishing industry and Sunderland Marine is proud to support their future endeavours.” Robinson was presented with the award’s trophy in Ōtautahi Christchurch at the 2025 New Zealand Federation of Commercial Fishermen conference. He will also be awarded $5,000 courtesy of Sunderland Marine to further develop his career.
Federation President Doug Saunders-Loder says, “It’s great to see this award return for a second year. We have a responsibility to support the up-and-comers in the seafood industry and help them develop their careers for the long run.”
The award, founded in 2024, celebrates young fishers under the age of 35 who have demonstrated skill and commitment and have a determination to further their careers within the fishing industry.
Ben Pierce from Young Fish, Cole Robinson, Nicki Peacey from Sunderland
The Pulsar Oryx LRF XG35 sets a new standard in high performance, compact thermal imaging.
Outstanding features include:
• Accurate 1500m laser rangefinder
• Lynred ATTO640 sensor (MIL-STD 883/810)
• Image stabilisation
• Fast 35mm germanium objective lens
• Precision focus wheel for single-handed use
• Fully protected quick-change battery pack
• Internal back-up battery
• Durable IP67 fully waterproof Mg-alloy body.
There are a lot of misconceptions and confusion over thermal imagers that can result in hunters making regretted purchases. In this article, I will concentrate on the specifications that matter and how they should be applied to real-world hunting conditions. Thermal imagers used for hunting vary greatly in specifications, each of which will be better for certain tasks. The most important specification for identifying a target is image resolution.
Part one: Image resolution.
The two most important considerations for spotting and identifying animals are sensor resolution (number of pixels) and field-of-view. A popular misconception is that smaller pixels form a higher resolution image. This is not the case, image resolution is determined by how many pixels are available to capture an image within the devices field-of-view, regardless of pixel size or pitch.
However, comparing two thermal imagers with the same focal length lens, each with the same number of sensor pixels, the sensor with smaller pixels will have a higher image resolution because its fieldof-view is narrower.
To calculate image resolution, divide the horizontal linear field-ofview, usually expressed as metres at 100 metres (m@100m), by the number of horizontal pixels in the sensor array.
The following is a comparison between a 12µm and a 17µm thermal that have the same working resolution:
Equation: 21.8m x 1000 = 21800mm ÷ by 640 = 34.0mm. At 100m each pixel resolves an area of 34mm
The above shows that a 12µm sensor with a 35mm lens has the same resolution as a 17µm sensor with a 50mm lens, because the same number of pixels are divided into the same (very similar field-of-view).
The examples that I have discussed are a linear measure of resolution, based on a distance from the observer of 100m.
Resolution decreases as distance increases, so a 34mm @100m resolution becomes 68mm @200m, 136mm @400m and so on. The area that a single pixel resolves is known as the Instantaneous Field-Of-View or IFOV.
Another method to calculate IFOV is angular, such as Minuteof-Angle (MOA). MOA remains the same at all distances but is more di cult to work with when applying to objects of a known height and distance.
Applying to real-world situations
The main consideration for choosing a thermal for target identification is distance. If the animals are relatively close, such as in bush, forestry or farmland, less resolution is required for identification because at closer distances, animals appear larger. A wide field-of-view is more important in these distances to reduce scanning time.
At longer distances, resolution is increased at the expense of field-ofview. This is fine however, because linear field-of-view increases proportionally to distance between target and observer.
How much resolution is required for target identification?
The Johnson Criteria is an industry standard that was formulated by the US Department of Defence for calculating target Detection, Recognition and Identification (DRI) based on:
• Device’s pixel pitch of sensor and lens focal length
• Target size
• Target distance from the observer.
According to the Johnson Criteria, the di erence between Detection, Recognition and Identification is quoted as:
Detection – “there is something there”
Recognition – “It is a vehicle”
Identification – “It is a Humvee”
We can use for Recognition “it has four legs” and Identification “it is a deer” as a better model for shooting.
While the Johnson Criteria is still a relevant model, it has a huge flaw in that it is based on a probability of 50% success, which means that
an observer has a 50/50 chance of detecting and identifying what they are looking at. While this may be OK for detection, it is certainly is not good enough for identification.
These are the Johnson Criteria minimum number of pixels required for DRI based on 50% probability:
D = 1.5px +/- .5px
R = 6px +/- 1.5px
I = 12px +/- 2px
To convert to a theoretical 100% probability, I have doubled the amount of pixels:
D = 3 pixels
R = 12 pixels
I = 24 pixels
Note that I have used the word theoretical, because this formulae does not compensate for lens and sensor quality, user experience and viewing conditions, all of which a ect the outcome. It does, however, provide a rule-of-thumb guide when choosing your thermal and a starting point for getting to know your thermal’s capability.
Applying our modified Johnson Criteria figures
Firstly, it must be noted that these figures are based on a stationary object, if the object is moving it greatly improves identification.
Calculating:
• take the average height measurement of your target in mm’s,
• divide this by the resolution in millimetres of your thermal.
Example: 800mm high pig and a thermal imager with a resolution of 34mm @100m
• Divide the height of the pig by the resolution of the thermal to find number of vertical pixels that fit into the height of the pig.
Equation: 800mm ÷ 34mm = 23.5 pixels.
According to our modified Johnson Criteria, 24 vertical pixels are required to Identify a stationary object. Our figure of 23.5 pixels is pretty bang-on for Identification at 100m, Recognition at 200m and Detection at 800m, though these distances can increase if the animal is moving. Also, distances can also increase because animals are longer
Instantaneous Field-Of-View (IFOV) is the extent of an image that is produced by a SINGLE pixel in the sensor. IFOV is a measure of the device’s image resolution.
than higher in shape.
I hope this sheds a little light on the topic which I have tried to keep as simple as possible. I will be developing a distance guide for di erent animals, thermals and distances in the near future, though I
find the maths rather challenging. In the next article I will discuss sensor sensitivity and NETD, which is the second most important consideration when choosing a thermal optic for hunting.
Quake City Shoot May 25
The last match before the World shoot was held in May in Christchurch.
They call it the Quake City shoot, there were 12 stages to be shot over the weekend. The match o cials had their chance on the Friday, which I managed to get down and watch the afternoons work. This is meant to be a test run to make sure everything goes the way they wanted.
Saturday was clear and cold. Stages 1 to 4 were run on ranges normally used for ISSF, these were all on the smaller side as there are restrictions on the direction and angles that we can shoot. An interesting twist is someone years back had carpeted the ground with lots of small chip, so that when you try and move fast it’s like running in soft sand, the harder you try,
the more we sink which slows our movement and speed. As I have mentioned on numerous occasions, speed is very important for good results. Over the weekend, they put together some good stages that had more than one way to compete. This lifts the challenge of working out the best and fastest way for each of
us to complete them as e ciently as possible for our skill set. This also tests memory and the ability to come up with a plan and stick with it. It’s also a required skill to be able to change your thinking on the run, because even the best laid plans seem to fall apart very quicky at times. In my opinion these are the best kind of stages as it gives us more opportunity than when it is a follow the leader stage doing the same thing.
We have moving targets as well as lots of steel plates, and one even did both at the same time, two round plates at around 20 meters on a slider which was activated by shooting another steel target that had to fall to activate the slider which was only in view for a limited time. It was either a success or a disaster, but they were kind to us and only had it on a smaller
point stage, so if it didn’t work out it wasn’t a match ending screw up. Although that didn’t stop a lot of head shaking and swearing for missing. All in all, it was a good test of skills with some longer-range work, plenty of penalty targets that were very expensive when hit. It’s all about shooting as fast as possible but with no misses or penalties, sounds easy and in some ways, it is, but being faster and straighter than everyone else, now that’s not so easy. It was good to catch up with friends from all over the South. The numbers from the North Island were low as some of them are a bit soft and they find the weather in the South too cold for them, the joke this time was on them as it was hot.
PISTOL SHOOTING
Brian Bishop
Expensive lessons for people taking too much or undersize shellfish and selling recreational catch
Fishers taking undersize or too much shellfish and two men who sold their recreational catch have been dealt thousands of dollars in fines over the past two months.
“People who choose to ignore the fishing rules need to know there will be consequences. Our job is to protect fishing resources so that everyone can enjoy the opportunity to put fresh kaimoana on the dinner the table,” says Fisheries New Zealand Director of Fisheries Compliance, Steve Ham.
A 44-year-old Timaru man was fined $800 in the Timaru District Court for being in possession of 201 mussels. The daily limit is 50 per gatherer. The man had his catch inspected by Fishery O cers in September last year.
A 45-year-old New Plymouth man was ordered to do 80 hours community work by the New Plymouth District Court for taking 41 pāua of which 19 were undersize. The man was stopped at Moturoa and had his catch inspected by Fishery O cers in September 2023.
The minimum legal size for taking pāua from this area is 85mm and gatherers can take five per day.
A 27-year-old Opunake man was fined $1600 in the New Plymouth District Court for taking 55 kina from Te Namu Bay in September last year. The area is closed to gathering shellfish except for crayfish.
A 39-year-old Maketu man was fined $950 in the Tauranga District Court for taking seven undersize pāua. The man was stopped by a Fishery O cer in January. He had hidden the pāua in rocks and refused to cooperate with the Fishery O cer and drove o but was later identified by Police. The daily legal limit is 5 pāua per gatherer in that area with a minimum size of 125mm.
A 33-year-old Tolaga Bay man was fined $1200 in the Gisborne District Court for taking 25 undersize pāua in September last year. The man had his catch inspected by Fishery O cers at a checkpoint at Kaiaua beach. The daily limit per person for pāua in this area is five with a minimum size of 125mm.
A 34-year-old Gisborne man was ordered to do 40 hours community work for being in possession of 175 kina. The man was sentenced in the
Gisborne District Court. Last year he had his catch inspected by Fishery O cers who found he had more than three times the daily limit of 50 kina per person.
A 23-year-old Gisborne man was ordered to do 40 hours community work by the Gisborne District Court. The man was stopped by Fishery O cers at Turihaua Beach in December last year. He had 10 undersize crayfish. The daily limit is six per person a day with a minimum legal size of 54mm for female crayfish and 60mm for male crayfish.
A 47-year-old Auckland man was fined $200 in the Manukau District Court for using two set nets in a prohibition area – the Tamaki River. The man was stopped by Fishery O cers in January this year. He was earlier fined for having several undersize fish in his nets.
A 47-year-old and his 72-yearold father were fined a total of $6,960 for selling some of their recreational fishing take. The men were sentenced in the Porirua District Court. Over an 18-month period (20222024), the younger man was found to have sold various recreationally caught fish on at least 15 occasions he took from
the Lower West Coast of the North Island when he was a commercial fisher. The other man who was a retired fisher also took part in some of fishing and sold Hapuka on at least two occasions.
“If you’re unsure of the fishing rules in the area you plan to fish – get the most up to date fishing rules by downloading the free NZ Fishing Rules mobile app. It will also work if you’re fishing in an area with limited mobile coverage,” says Fisheries New Zealand Director of Fisheries Compliance Steve Ham.
Fisheries New Zealand encourages people to report any suspected illegal fishing activity through the Ministry for Primary Industries’ 0800 4 POACHER line (0800 47 62 24).
