Waikawa Dive Centre

Yet another MPI win, but perhaps let down by our courts with soft sentencing.

A fisher who poached 1869 pāua intended for sale, and illegally used scuba gear to harvest the shellfish, has been placed on home detention for 10 months and ordered to do 300 hours’ community work.

Following a guilty plea, Jorden Cedric Paul (43) was today sentenced on 3 charges under the Fisheries Act, after a successful prosecution by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

“Mr Paul used his fishing boat, Aria Maree, to steal 1869 pāua near Titahi Bay in Porirua, where the daily recreational limit is 5 pāua at a minimum size of 125mm,” says Fisheries New Zealand regional manager central, Phil Tasker.

“The pāua was shucked and our investigation found 222 of the shellfish were undersize. An aggravating factor was that he used prohibited underwater breathing apparatus enabling him to steal such a large amount.

“Mr Paul deliberately stole this pāua, motivated by greed and financial gain. None of the shellfish could be returned to the ocean, meaning it will take years for the fishery to recover from the environmental damage.”

In June 2025, Mr Paul and another man, who is still before the court, were gathering shellfish off Wellington’s west coast. When they returned to the boat ramp, they were stopped by fishery officers who inspected their catch. The shucked pāua was counted and weighed individually to establish how many were undersize. Just 13 of the pāua taken were still in shells.

“Our investigation found this pāua was likely intended for sale,” Mr Tasker says.

“Pāua poaching in the Wellington region is a serious problem and this behaviour risks the long-term survivability and sustainability of this taonga species.

“Mr Paul claimed the stolen seafood was going to be shared with family. We would encourage anyone offered a large amount of free seafood not to take it, but to contact us because receiving stolen seafood is also an offence.

“This was deliberate theft of our shared resources and when we find evidence of illegal fishing, we take action before the court – and there are consequences.”

Mr Paul’s fishing boat, a Toyota Landcruiser, and the fishing gear and equipment he used to harvest the pāua were all forfeited to the Crown.

We encourage people to report any suspected illegal activity through the Ministry for Primary Industries’ 0800 4 POACHER line (0800 476 224).

Getting to know "mussels."
It was great to see a collaborative approach, organizations joining together to pool their enthusiasm, science, history, cultural interest, and expertise to learn a little piece of our underwater life.
A day on the water today, for some underwater, and then the science when back on dry land. They went till after dark. Great effort.

Busy weekend underwater.
Must be the weather, or something in the water, but a huge number of hire dive cylinders have gone out this weekend. Just under thirty, plus other gear.
Remember, there is still a toxin alert in Port Underwood.
Safe diving....................

First shark encounter, remembered for life.
Took two young ladies out for a quick dive after work this week. It was close to darkness when they surfaced, and they were full of joy and pumped up from the exciting dive. They had completed their dive with a special encounter. A carpet shark. Their first encounter with a shark and many other sights in the marine world just amazed them.
They had taken a picture of the carpet shark, and later that week had that picture turned into a tattoo, which was tattooed on their arms.

Paua taken from Kaikoura Marine Reserve.
A Christchurch man has been placed on 4 months’ home detention for taking 486 pāua, which he intended to sell, from a marine reserve.

Bruce Honey Tata (48) was sentenced (12 May 2026) on one charge under the Fisheries Act in the Hamilton District Court, following a successful prosecution by the Ministry for Primary Industries. The sentence includes a condition that Mr Tata attend and complete an appropriate Tikanga Programme or counselling to the satisfaction of a probation officer.

"Mr Tata and his son took 486 pāua from Hikurangi Marine Reserve south of Kaikōura where it is prohibited to take the shellfish, and 159 of these were undersize.

"He intended to sell the pāua, which is illegal. Fishery officers have zero tolerance for this behaviour, which threatens the sustainability of this important shared resource,” says Fisheries New Zealand regional manager south, Garreth Jay.

Mr Tata’s son Biyhan Tata (26) was sentenced in March to 5 months community detention for his part in the offending, which was diving for the pāua.

The offending was uncovered when a fishery officer on patrol saw Bruce and Biyhan Tata at the Hikurangi Marine Reserve. The men hid a sack with pāua by a concrete sea barrier.

Fisheries New Zealand worked with police who stopped a vehicle Bruce Tata was in and recovered the sack containing the pāua.

"While Bruce Tata claimed the pāua was being gathered for a social event, we found electronic evidence of pāua sales. Neither of these men held a fishing permit to sell seafood. When we have evidence of illegal fishing behaviour – we take action and will hold those responsible to account,” says Garreth Jay.

We encourage people to report any suspected illegal activity through the Ministry for Primary Industries’ 0800 4 POACHER line (0800 476 224).

Copy and paste from MPI report.

Port Underwood area TOXIN alert.
New Zealand Food Safety is advising the public not to collect or consume shellfish gathered from Port Underwood in the Marlborough area due to the presence of toxins.

Shellfish biotoxin alert with map

"Routine tests on mussels from Port Underwood have shown levels of paralytic shellfish toxin over the safe limit," says New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle.

"The warning extends from north of Robin Hood Bay to Robertson Point and includes the entire Port Underwood area. Please do not gather and eat shellfish from this area because anyone doing so could get sick.

"Affected shellfish include bivalve shellfish such as mussels, oysters, tuatua, p**i, toheroa, cockles and scallops, as well as pūpū (cat’s eyes) and Cook’s turban.

"It’s important to know that cooking the shellfish does not remove the toxin, so shellfish from this area should not be eaten."

"We are monitoring toxin levels in shellfish at Port Underwood and the wider area. The causative algae produce a dangerous toxin and, when shellfish filter-feed, these toxins can accumulate in their gut and flesh. Generally, the more algae in the water, the more toxic the shellfish get."

Don't tell Sharon.
Sharon borrowed my camera for the weekend's diving. She is getting some cracker pictures now. We changed the camera's SD card, so she hasn't seen these yet. There are plenty more, but aren't these great!!

Not a bad Saturday afternoon effort.
The "clean-up" dive yesterday achieved many positive things. Firstly, the removal of lots of fishing tackle, hooks, sinkers, line, and even a fishing reel, but a solar panel, now this was a "first-of-its-kind" find after many years of pulling up rubbish around the Sounds. Of course, the usual cans and bottles packed out the catch bags.
One sinker was interesting. Made of vineyard staples taped together. See the picture.
We had a couple of divers up from Kaikoura to help us. One of them clicked over their 60th dive on their way to a greater diving qualification.
We shot over to the Koi wreck for a dive that was to become the first time two of the divers had dived her.
I would like to thank Steve, who drove the second boat, and the divers who did the underwater work and survived my garlic bread and Sav's later.

Update. This weekend.
Saturday's small gathering of divers to collect wayward fishing tackle and whatever else that shouldn't be there has bloomed to a size that I didn't expect, and so I need to say we have enough divers, thanks.
What a great response. Some divers from out of town, too.
We are also full on the Sunday dive to the Russian wreck.

Dive this Saturday afternoon.
Just a last of the summer dip to see how much fishing line, sinkers, lures, and rubbish we can get off the Waikawa Marina wall (outside of the Marina). The photo is actually a cleanup dive of some local fishing spots we did in Queen Charlotte Sound. Amazing.
So if you are a certified scuba diver, keen snorkeller or want to walk the wall, ideal for the kids, to collect the divers finds as they go, we would welcome your help.
It free, there is free air or cylinders for those scuba diving. Depth will be 6 meters and up. Families coming to help are recommended to bring gloves, scissors, and good footwear.
All meet at the shop at 1.00pm and finish about 3.00 pm. We will be dropping divers into the water via a boat so please contact the shop if diving so I can make sure there is room.