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Warning bait gathering !!!!!!


biggcol
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At 0700hrs last Wednesday there was a combined fisheries and police raid at Evening Hill. The target for this raid was the gang of Chinese shell fish gatherers who have been hammering the Clams, mainly Razor Clams.

 

Please be aware it is illegal to take Clams, this includes Razors, without a licence. I have spoken to the fisheries and they confirmed this includes Razors for bait !!!!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

New Zealand seem to have the answer.

 

All shellfish are strictly controlled with both bag limits and sometimes size limits applied. A person is allowed to only collect so many at one time eg cockles are 50, clams 20, scallops 20 with a minimum size of 100mm. Only people actually collecting have a bag limit, and fines for infringement are severe, and doubled automatically if there is an attempt ti "hide" the catch.

 

These quantities are adequate for personal consumption or bait gathering, but would be inadequate for a commercial operation. Of course some people bend the rules, mainly Chinese gatherers taking an army of kids along to the beach to boost their entitlement, but on the whole it works. More importantly, it is seen as fair by most and is therefore publicly policed by people like us watching out for abusers and reporting them via a hotline. Easy to remember - 0800 poacher!

 

Scenes of foreign cockle gangs dragging sacks full off the beaches only make the news when their are tragic drowning incidences. Perhaps what we need are fair rules for all that protect stocks for the future and are supported and policed by the public.

 

Like banning commercial trawling within 6 miles of the shoreline.....????

 

It works elsewhere.

 

Ian

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Ian the New Zealand way would be really good but they follow up with the punishments where as over here it's only a slapped wrist!!!!

 

Don't start me on trawling. I was out a couple of weeks ago with my son who is making a pop video. We were very early, first light, and right in front of us going along the small boat channel of the swash on the training bank side was a Beamer. I didn't have time to get close enough to get his PE number or boat name as we had to get the film done at first light. Just pure greed .

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