Baby mussels take a long time to grow to a good size. If the babies are harvested before they a reproductive age, soon there will be no more. Mussels are popular yesterday, sadly a 27 year old drowned when diving for mussels.
These rocks are very dangerous. When people make the effort to fish there, it is very tempting to over fish.
http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/
Beach visitors are asked to be on lookout for illegal seafood gatherers. If we see suspicious fishing activity are being urged to report it. Some people plea ignorance, and there is no excuse for it. If everyone overfish or collect under sized fish or shell fish, soon there will be none left.
The Ministry of Fisheries will be doing checks on people catching fish, and collecting shellfish and crayfish.
Regional manager Ian Bright says fish species where the limits are abused are often the same each year. He says snapper is always one of the main ones, followed by shellfish, pipi and kahawai.
If people do not respect the limits, they will be caught out, with Mr Bright saying the chances of inspection are very high.
The penalties for breaking the rules can be severe including fines, loss of vehicles and catch. Mr Bright encourages people to report suspicious activity by calling 0800 FOR POACHER.
4 comments:
Ann, the starfish are gorgeous as can be!
Those sure are attractive starfish Ann. I don't think there are any protection laws on them but I think you did the right thing by not taking one - Dave
I think you were right to leave those starfish alone. Reminded me of our own encounter along the beach in Australia a few years back: we exhausted ourselves flinging "beached" starfish back to the sea, so they would not get barbecued like many of their friends ;-(
The starfishes are so gorgeous! I've seen starfishes in Kusu Island, south of Singapore but none are as big as these.
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