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Whangaparāoa residents are dismayed by an influx of shellfish gatherers to the already depleted beaches of the peninsula.
Local social media has been flooded with reports of multiple groups arriving daily armed with buckets and tools, stripping rock pools and the intertidal zone of beaches, including Army Bay, Okoromai Bay, and rock pools bordering Shakespear Regional Park.
Protect Whangaparāoa Rock Pools coordinator Mark Lenton says it’s the worst he’s seen and it was immensely frustrating considering the efforts being made to educate immigrant communities about the damaging impact that uncontrolled harvesting has on the intertidal zones.
Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust has applied for a two-year ban on the harvesting of all shellfish and seaweed from rockpools along Auckland’s eastern coastline, from the Rodney Local Board area through to the Hibiscus Local Board area. Consultation on the proposal closed in November and is currently under review by Fisheries New Zealand before heading to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Shane Jones for a decision. (Hibiscus Matters, December 1, 2025).
Fisheries NZ regional compliance manager North Andre Espinoza says that over the summer period to date, from November 1, 2025 to January 5) Fisheries NZ received and responded to nine poacher line calls from the public about suspected illegal fishing activity around Whangaparāoa Peninsula.
“Our fishery officers have been highly active in the area undertaking multiple patrols on land and at sea each week,” Espinoza says.
During this time, fishery officers conducted 189 recreational fishing inspections and found most people were following the rules. Of those inspections, 14 instances of non-compliance were identified, mostly for undersize snapper or taking excess shellfish.
This equates to around 93 per cent compliance in the Whangaparāoa Peninsula area, which is similar to the nationwide compliance rate of around 94 per cent.
The 14 incidents of non-compliance resulted in warnings and infringements, and the more serious offences may result in prosecution. The rules are there for a reason and when we find people that deliberately break them, we won’t hesitate to hold them to account.”
Lenton says that although it was encouraging to see an increase in Fisheries NZ presence over recent weeks, an “obvious concern” is that while Auckland’s eastern and western coastlines are depleting rapidly, gatherer ‘compliance’ remains at 93 per cent.
“This is a clear indication that our rules are grossly outdated and do not consider the intensive volume of daily harvesting,” Lenton says. “A group of 10 people could take 50 starfish each. Under current rules, they are 100 per cent compliant, but 500 starfish have been removed from a single beach in a single day. On a busy day, there can be 200 gatherers working Army Bay alone.
There simply isn’t enough sealife to accommodate current demand.”
Fisheries NZ encourages people to report suspected illegal activity through the 0800 4 POACHER number (0800 476 224).
Protect Whangaparāoa Rockpools is holding a peaceful protest at Army Bay boat ramp on Saturday, January 17 from 10am, calling for stronger protection of rock pools and the intertidal zone, and greater education around marine conservation.
