Two recreational fishers have been hit with $1000 fines each after being caught breaking no-take rules in Northland’s protected marine areas, one during a night surveillance trip that officials say was deliberately designed to catch people off guard.
Both incidents occurred in February in the Mimiwhangata and Rakaumangamanga (Cape Brett) Rāhui Tapu marine protection areas, and both fines have since been paid.
The first occurred on 18 February, when a Whangārei-area fisher was found fishing off Rimariki Island within the Mimiwhangata protected zone. Northland Regional Council environmental monitoring officers observed the person bringing up a kahawhai and asked them to reel in their line.
The second came five days later, on the night of 23 February, when a recreational fisher from the Waikato, staying aboard a launch, was caught pulling a large snapper from Maunganui Bay (Deep Water Cove) inside the Rakaumangamanga protected area. The catch came during one of NRC’s night surveillance trips, introduced specifically to prevent predictable patrol patterns.
NRC Group Manager Biosecurity Don McKenzie says the council has conducted 94 surveillance trips since October last year, approaching more than 246 vessels. That activity has resulted in 23 formal direction notices, essentially cease-and-desist orders, alongside the two infringement fines.
The no-take rules were introduced following an Environment Court decision in 2023, which found that fishing had been causing significant disruption and deterioration to marine ecosystems in the affected areas, directing NRC to implement the restrictions through its Regional Plan.
