New Zealand has announced a two-year ban on sea life gathering from a stretch of coastline near Auckland after hordes of mainly Chinese immigrants dubbed “bucket people” emptied beaches and rock pools of “anything that lives”.
Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Shane Jones said the closure was aimed at stopping the “wholesale stripping of marine life” and would take effect from March 12, with enforcement by Fishery Officers and infringements considered for breaches.
The ban covers Omaha Bay, Kawau Bay, and the Whangaparaoa Peninsula between the mouth of the Orewa River and the Long Bay-Okura Marine Reserve, extending offshore to 200 metres, and prohibits harvesting of all seaweed species and invertebrate species.
Spiny rock lobsters and scallops are not included as they are already illegal to gather, while sea urchins are exempt and can be taken within recreational fishing limits.
“I have approved a two-year ban on the taking of a range of invertebrate and seaweed species to put an end to over-collection of marine life from rockpools and surrounding coastline and help protect these important ecosystems,” Mr Jones said on Sunday.
“While most people who visit the coast do the right thing and gather only what is appropriate and legal, there are others who are exploiting it and taking so much that they are collapsing the fragile ecosystems.”
Oceans and Fisheries Under-Secretary Jenny Marcroft said multilingual material was being developed to support the closure.
Asked about the ban in parliament on Tuesday Mr Jones said the temporary closure was made in response to “busloads of tourists organised by social media sites largely visited by immigrants acting in a way that has offended the local community”.
“When the busloads arrive, no rock pool can survive something akin to the Oriental Express,” he said.
The ban comes just over a month after hundreds of frustrated locals held a protest at Army Bay demanding action to stop the pillaging of local rock pools by busloads of shellfish scavengers who use buckets and screwdrivers to remove any marine or plant life they can find.
Members of a group called Protect Whangaparaoa Rock Pools have been patrolling beaches, printed out cards saying “look, don’t take” in English, Chinese, Korean and Maori to hand out to illegal gatherers, and photos posted on their Facebook page show the pillaging has continued despite the protest.
University of Auckland marine biologist Andrew Jeffs said at the time mass immigration was putting pressure on species that had not traditionally been harvested, and had witnessed the practice first-hand himself.
“People have different tastes in what they like to eat and enjoy, and harvesting from the shore of fresh seafood material is something that they enjoy,” he said.
“I’ve been at the beach and observed groups harvesting the organisms out of rock pools and taking them away by the bucket load.”
Header image: Left, right, bucket people at work (Facebook).
The post Seafood gathering banned after immigrant ‘bucket people’ stripped beaches first appeared on The Noticer.
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