Poachers dig 123 toheroas

Press, 21 January 1982, Page 20

Poachers dig 123 toheroas

PA Palmerston North Two toheroa poachers with 123 shellfish have been apprehended by fisheries officers at Hokio Beach, near Levin. Mr Owen Moore senior fisheries officer with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries based in Wellington. described the haul as a “particularly bad example of poaching.” He said the worst aspect was that all of the shellfish

had been dug with a spade, and 48 had been smashed and could not be returned to the The digging of toheroas is banned at present. Onlv one area in New Zealand, Oreti Beach, last year held a week-long toheroa season in September. A Fisheries spokesman said surveys on all other toheroa beaches showed that there had not been enough growth of the shellfish to

enable them to be opened up for digging. Hokio Beach had not been open for the last two years. People found digging the shellfish out of season are liable to a maximum fine of $lOOO, plus $lO a toheroa. Mr Moore said the two people apprehended would prooably be prosecuted. He said officers had come across several lesser cases, “But it’s a continuing problem, and we are continually on patrol."