Two recreational fishers have each been handed $1,000 infringement fines after being caught breaking no-take rules inside protected Northland marine areas, with one offence uncovered during a deliberate night-time patrol designed to catch people off guard.
Both incidents took place in February within the Mimiwhangata and Rakaumangamanga (Cape Brett) Rāhui Tapu marine protection areas.
The first offence was recorded on 18 February, when Northland Regional Council environmental monitoring officers observed a Whangārei-area fisher pulling up a kahawhai off Rimariki Island, inside the protected Mimiwhangata zone, and asked the person to reel in their line.
Five days later, on the night of 23 February, a recreational fisher from the Waikato, staying aboard a launch, was caught hauling a large snapper from Maunganui Bay (Deep Water Cove) within the Rakaumangamanga protected area. The detection came during one of the NRC's night surveillance trips, a format introduced specifically to break predictable patrol patterns and reduce the chance of people simply waiting for officers to pass before resuming prohibited activity.
NRC Group Manager Biosecurity Don McKenzie says the council has completed 94 surveillance trips since October last year, during which officers approached more than 246 vessels. That activity has produced 23 formal direction notices, which operate as cease-and-desist orders, alongside the two infringement fines.
The no-take rules stem from a 2023 Environment Court decision that found fishing had been causing significant disruption and deterioration to marine ecosystems in the affected areas, directing the NRC to implement the restrictions through its Regional Plan.
