Fisheries NZ last week in a statement said fishery officers throughout New Zealand did almost 13,000 recreational catch inspections over summer and found most people followed the rules, compliance at about 94% across the country.
In the South Island, officers carried out 4488 recreational inspections during summer, recording 261 instances of non-compliance.
Many of these resulted in warnings, and 93 infringements were issued.
Officers are still making inquiries into about 25 cases.
‘‘Fishery officers worked extremely hard throughout summer and while they provided education to a lot of people on rules, they still found too many people with too much pāua, crayfish and undersize blue cod or blue cod being landed in an illegal state,’’ fisheries compliance director Steve Ham said.
Otago/Timaru district manager Ian Henderson said some fishers were unaware of the reduction from 15 to 10 blue cod in the Southern blue cod management area south of Taiaroa Head, but there were very few incidents.
‘‘Our advice to fishers is to always check the rules before you go fishing, even if you think you know them, by downloading the free NZ Fishing rules app.
‘‘Rules do change from time to time, and this is the best way of keeping up to date,’’ he said.
‘‘We have been made aware of a few fishers using undersized blue cod for bait and would like to remind fishers that undersize blue cod must be returned to the sea immediately and must not be used as bait.’’
This behaviour threatened the sustainability of the blue cod fisheries.
‘‘There is plenty of information available so that everyone can easily familiarise themselves with the rules.
Mr Ham said most problems people ran into with the rules — such as undersize or excess fish — when minor breaches were found, education was provided.
Mr Ham said set nets remained a focus for fishery officers.
‘‘We are confiscating illegal set nets regularly.
‘‘Recently, we found three set nets tied together, covering 160m in length.
‘‘Some fishers are just blatantly breaking the rules and while most people will face a $250 fine, in more serious situations, the courts can issue more severe fines.’’
Fishery officers also found nets without markings or buoys displaying contact details, which were also a hazard to other water users.
Some of the seizures by officers included finding a car battery being used as an anchor for a set net, which is environmentally irresponsible, a decoy duck used to hide a set net, and staked set nets leaving fish dead and out of the water.
