Four men were caught taking whitebait from the Waiau river mouth in Southland outside the legal fishing hours. File picture. Photo: SUPPLIED / Shelley McMurtie
Police say four Southland men who were catching whitebait illegally have had their nets seized and will face enforcement from the Department of Conservation.
With two weeks to go until the end of the whitebaiting season, police and DOC have been doing compliance checks at the Waiau river mouth.
Senior sergeant Pete Graham said a joint operation between police, DOC, Fisheries New Zealand and Te Rūnaka o Ōraka-Aparima aimed to catch people who were fishing outside of the legal hours, participating in anti-social behaviours or driving impaired.
"Four local men were discovered fishing outside of the regulated hours while we were conducting our compliance checks last night," he said in a statement.
Penalties for those caught illegally fishing whitebait could include having their fishing equipment seized and possibly destroyed, with any whitebait caught returned to the river, they could also face a $400 fine or court prosecution, he said.
Graham said it was important for those fishing for whitebait to be up to date with the rules and regulations.
The whitebait fishing season for New Zealand is from 1 September and 30 October, while for the Chatham Islands it runs from 1 December until the last day of February.
Whitebaiting was only permitted on these days between 5am to 8pm, or 6am to 9pm during New Zealand daylight saving and any whitebaiting outside of these times was illegal, he said.