Pāua to the people: Coromandel locals block shellfish poachers
Coromandel locals rallied together last week to stop three pā ua poachers from leaving Pāuanui Beach with undersized pāua.
Locals are calling Hamish “Hammer” Mcnabb a hero after he confronted a man carrying a bag full of the kaimoana.
“It was low tide, and I could see them picking pāua off the rocks. We don’t get pā ua here that is big enough to keep, so I knew what they were doing was wrong,” Mcnabb said.
He said the poacher was being assisted by a woman and a man. He parked his vehicle behind their van, preventing them from leaving.
“I grabbed a bag [of undersized pāua] and tipped it out. I told him to stay put and rang the police — who gave me the number for [fishery officers].”
The 53-year-old father told the Herald he was concerned about pā ua poaching in the area and its impact on the ecosystem.
Mcnabb believes the delicacy is being distributed to restaurants in Auckland on the black market.
The builder says he felt “a bit intimidated” confronting the three poachers and reached out to locals on social media for support.
“We contained them until the fishery officer arrived, which took more than an hour because he was coming from Whitianga. We boxed their van in and the locals gave them a piece of their mind.”
Mcnabb claims a second group of poachers dumped pāua into the sea when they realised what was happening.
Friend Jamie Mccaw says Mcnabb was “brilliant, calm and cool”.
“Hammer is a humble hero. When I turned up, locals were there, they saw the shellfish and expressed their disgust. There was no aggression or threatening behaviour — just unity from the community that poaching is unacceptable,” Mccaw said.
The poachers were of Asian descent and the friends said they were concerned Asian locals in Tairua and Pā uanui could be ostracised as potential poachers.
“It doesn’t matter what ethnicity you are, if it was Mā ori I’d do the same thing,” Mcnabb said.
Pāuanui local Thomas Clark, 39, raised the situation on social media.
“Good on the guy for standing up to the poachers. My wife is Chinese, and I don’t want locals to assume she’s the poacher.”
Fisheries New Zealand regional manager fisheries compliance, Andre Espinoza, said: “Fishery officers have been making inquiries into alleged poaching of pāua and kina on the Coromandel Peninsula following reports to our 0800 4 POACHER line.
“They caught three fishers who had taken 65 undersize pāua from the south end of Pāuanui, he said. “These fishers will be formally interviewed by fishery officers, and . . . may face enforcement action.”
In total, 65 pāua, all undersized, ranging from 68-98mm, 11 kina, and 40 assorted whelks, snails and limpets were seized.