They know it’s illegal
The Ministry for Primary Industries has accused some fishermen of blatantly flouting blue cod rules in the Marlborough Sounds after a charter boat was caught with 30 filleted blue cod.
Sixteen boats in total were caught breaching the rules over Labour Day Weekend, which the ministry described as ‘‘disappointing’’.
Fishery officers and police from the Wellington Maritime Unit were out in the Sounds over the weekend in police patrol boat Lady Elizabeth IV.
A ministry spokeswoman said 10 people had taken blue cod from the closed area, but none of them were commercial fishermen.
Three boats had filleted blue cod at sea, two boats had undersized blue cod, and one boat had excess blue cod.
The rules state each fisherman is allowed to keep two blue cod, which must be at least 33 centimetres in length, and cannot be filleted so they can be measured accurately.
It was disappointing for fishery officers to find a charter boat with 30 filleted blue cod at sea knowing full well it was illegal, the spokeswoman said.
The outer Sounds area was closed to recreational fishermen from September 1 to December 20 each year. This year, it was also closed to commercial fishermen, who in past years had been able to catch fish all year round.
The spokeswoman said the focus was on the outer Sounds and d’Urville Island.
Ninety-one boats were inspected in total over the course of four days. Infringements for each offence started at $250, she said.
‘‘The number of offences is disappointing given that most of the rules have been in place since 2011. The size for blue cod did increase to 33cm in December 2015,’’ she said.
Police declined to comment, saying it was a ministry-led investigation.
Commercial fisherman and water taxi operator Lindsay Elkington, based on d’Urville Island, said he knew of one charter boat operator from the Kapiti Coast who was caught in the area, and he understood his catch was confiscated.
Penalties for commercial fishers were severe and could include the confiscation of boats.
‘‘Recreational fishers just get a slap on the wrist,’’ he said.
Compared to Queen’s Birthday Weekend, when Elkington counted more than 100 boats in the d’Urville Island area, he had seen only three or four recreational fishermen around d’Urville Island on Labour Weekend.
The weather was fine and the Marlborough Sounds were always a hot spot for recreational fishers, so the only thing he could put it down to was the police presence around the island on Saturday and Sunday.
The Lady Elizabeth IV was ‘‘very big and very fast’’, Elkington said.
When recreational fishermen spotted the boat they tended to turn around quickly before they got caught.
‘‘[The police] need to come out more often.’’