Vigilant members of the public are being praised for helping to uncover a haul of more than 300 illegally taken scallops by two divers in an incident at Whangarei Heads. "A fisheries officer went to the beach to check out the report and found one of the divers emerging from the water carrying a catch bag of 19 scallops," Rudsdale said. When they subsequently searched the area, they found 52 scallops dumped on the water's edge and a catch bag containing another 176 scallops in the water. "The men had allegedly taken 565 scallops in total, over 300 of which were under the legal size of 100mm. The two men, aged 30 and 38, will both face charges under the Fisheries Act for possessing excess and undersized scallops and threatening and obstructing fisheries officers.

Source: New Zealand Herald February 22, 2017 05:15 UTC