Shellfish poachers will be prosecuted for “stealing from our shared resource”, Fisheries New Zealand says.

The warning comes following action taken by fishery officers in the Eastern Bay of Plenty who have caught several people over summer with hundreds of green-lipped mussels, some of them taken from a closed area.

In November 2024, a two-year closure was placed over an area of Ōhiwa Harbour to the harvest of mussels.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa requested the closure, Te rāhui kuku ki tua o Kanawa, to provide support for their traditional rāhui and boost an area of the harbour where mussel beds have been reseeded.

Fisheries New Zealand Gisborne/Whakatāne district manager Jordan Cooper said it was disappointing to find people taking green-lipped mussels from an area that was closed to rebuild mussel beds.

Signage showing closure to harvesting green-lipped mussels. Photo / MPI

“People who disregard and break these rules are slowing this progress and we will continue to closely patrol the area and take action. Over the past month, fishery officers in Whakatāne stopped a person who had 779 green-lipped mussels – taken from the closed part of Ōhiwa Harbour.

“Other people who had their catch inspected were found with 92 green-lipped mussels taken from the closed area and another person with 154 green-lipped mussels taken from an open area. It’s likely some of these people will be prosecuted.”

For green-lipped mussels in open areas, the daily limit per person is 50.

In addition to the green-lipped mussel offending, another group of fishers who had their catch inspected were found with 2771 pipi taken from an open area of Ōhiwa Harbour. The daily limit for harvesting pipi is 150 per person.

Pipi aboard a recently seized vessel. Photo / MPI

“We seized their fishing vessel and prosecution is likely. When we find evidence of fishing rules being deliberately broken, we will take action,” Cooper said.

Anyone planning to go recreational fishing should download the free NZ Fishing Rules mobile app.

Once downloaded, it would work in areas without mobile coverage and provide the latest rules, including closures and gear restrictions for all areas.

People were encouraged to report any suspected illegal activity through the Ministry for Primary Industries’ 0800 4 POACHER line (0800 476 224).