A senior Civil Defence manager was caught with five times the daily pāua limit and claimed he had “limited” knowledge of the rules, while believing he could gather it on behalf of a group. Kumeroa Tuhaka said he intended to feed his family, but he didn’t have customary authorisation in an area known to be of special significance to local tangata whenua. He was gathering shellfish on Banks Peninsula in September last year when he was stopped by fishery officers who found 26 black foot pāua – 25 of them below the minimum legal size. Tuhaka, 39, was fined $1500 in the Christchurch District Court this week. The summary of facts showed he told fishery officers he was not experienced in gathering pāua and had limited knowledge of the relevant rules and regulations. He didn’t count the shellfish and estimated the size by sight, measuring the majority of them width-wise. Tuhaka, 39, said he didn’t know there were 26 of them until they were counted by the officers. The summary said the area within Akaroa Harbour is of special significance to local tangata whenua, valued for food gathering, spiritual and cultural reasons. The area where Tuhaka gathered the pāua is part of Akaroa Taiāpure, established to manage, conserve and enhance fisheries resources for present and future generations. The summary said black foot pāua is a high-value shellfish, which because of its limited coastal habitat and sedentary nature is susceptible to overfishing. Pāua have low reproductive productivity and need to live in groups to successfully breed. When areas of them are removed it can significantly reduce their ability to reproduce. The minimum legal size of 125mm allows them to breed for about three to four years before they become large enough to be taken. Fisheries New Zealand acting Canterbury/Marlborough district manager Ramon Smith advised all fishers to know local rules before going fishing. Fishery officers would be patrolling coasts and at sea throughout summer and would take action if they found people breaking the rules designed to protect sustainability of shared fisheries, Smith said. The maximum fines for breaching daily limits and size restrictions are $20,000 and $10,000 respectively. Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands News.