Fishing crewcaught with huge illegal haul of fish

A fishing crewwith 45 times the legal daily limit of snapper has been caught by Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) fishery officers during a routine boat inspection. The officers caught the five recreational fisherswith 348 fish at Half Moon Bay boat rampin East Auckland. ‘‘Most [317] were snapper, with a total weight of just under 200kg. Ninety-five of the snapper they had were undersize,’’ said Andre Espinoza, MPI’swest North Island regional manager fish compliance. He said the fishing crewwill ‘‘likely’’ face prosecution and the vessel has been seized by MPI. The daily limit for catching snapper on the East Coast of Auckland in the Hauraki Gulf is seven per personwith aminimum size of 30cm. ‘‘We work hard to protect fishing resources so that current and future generations can enjoy catching a feed of kaimoana,’’ Espinoza said.