Theft from cafe ‘gutwrenching’

WEST COAST

AN estimated $4000 of salmon and whitebait was stolen from the Paringa salmon farm and cafe overnight on Sunday.

Two full chilly bins, each weighing about 30kg, were taken in a burglary after midnight from the remote business near the Paringa River, south of Bruce Bay.

South Westland Salmon Farm owner Ben Monk said the theft was ‘‘gutwrenching’’.

‘‘Everyone is struggling down here in the tourism industry with the Covid situation and we are trying to make the best of it and keep the families going that are working for us,’’ Mr Monk said.

‘‘It is a kick in the a. . . for us down here . . . we are surviving but at the same time, you don’t need this.’’

Two men wearing hoodies — one in gumboots and the other in sneakers — were captured on CCTV footage entering the building after midnight on Sunday. They stayed about an hour.

They appeared to be aged between their 20s and 30s.

The pair were caught on camera sneaking around the bushes, missing some of the cameras, before entering the salmon farm packhouse below the cafe.

They spent about 1015 minutes breaking the padlock on the door, and then stayed in the packhouse without venturing upstairs to the cafe, which is fitted out with CCTV cameras.

A number plate partially caught on camera has been passed on to police.

Sergeant Chris McCracken, of Greymouth, said the thefts continued further north with $300 worth of honey stolen from the West Coast Wilderness Honey roadside stall near Shantytown at 1pm on Monday.

Last month, that stall, along with The Busy Bee Stall at Three Mile Hokitika, was targeted with a string of thefts.

Thefts from the roadside stall had been an ongoing problem.

In August, Mr Monk said his parents’ roadside honey stall at Paringa was hit by thieves, taking ‘‘all the honey’’ and damaging the money box. — Greymouth Star

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