Shellfish

The obligation to sort and count your catch arises when you legally “take” the shellfish. Exactly when this occurs has been the subject of discussion in the courts. A recent court case concluded that you should count and measure shellfish at the first reasonable opportunity and in that set of circumstances the first reasonable opportunity was on the seafloor as the shellfish were placed in the dive bag*

* Freedivers do not have as much time to measure on the seafloor so it is reasonable for them to do this at the surface.

How to measure shellfish

Paua: Measure the greatest length of the shell in a straight line. Do not measure over the curve of the shell.

Scallops: Measure the greatest diameter of the shell.

Dredge Oysters: Must not pass through a rigid circular metal ring with an inside diameter of 58 mm.

Underwater Breathing Apparatus (UBA)

(Does not include snorkels)

• No person may take paua using UBA.
• No person may be in possession of paua while in possession of UBA. This includes possession in or on any vessel or vehicle.

Open seasons

Oysters: There is no season restricting the taking of oysters. They can be taken all year round. However, oysters may not be taken from a small number of designated Māori reserves in the Northland and Waikato Region. Contact the Ministry for Primary Industries for the exact locations of these reserves.

Scallops: the open season is 1 September to 31 March inclusive. Specific area closures may apply, please contact your local Ministry for Primary Industries office for details.

Protection of Coral

Black Coral: no person may take or possess black coral.

Paua Accumulation Limits

When daily limits are accumulated the maximum number or amount of paua that one person can have in their possession at any one time is:

• 20 paua; or
• shucked weight (shell removed ) of 2.5 kgs of paua

This possession limit applies everywhere, including in the home.

Shellfish species	Daily limit per person	Auckland Coromandel area daily limit per person	Minimum size (mm)
Cockle	150	50	none
Kina (sea eggs)	50	50	none
Green-lipped mussels	50	25	none
Oysters - Dredge* + - Rock & Pacific†	50 250	50 100	58 none
Paua - Ordinary* - Yellow foot*	10 10	10 10	125 80
Pipi	150	50	none
Scallops * +	20	20	100
Toheroa #	Prohibited	Prohibited	Prohibited
Tuatua	150	50	none
All Others • (combined)	50	50	none

* Dredge oyster, paua and scallop must be landed in the shell and cannot be shucked or shelled seaward of the mean high water mark. This does not include dredge oysters and scallopsshucked onboard for consumption while at sea within daily bag limits.

† Rock and Pacific oysters must not be opened while they adhere to the object on which they grow

+ Limited provision allows only one diver diving from a vessel to gather extra bag limits of oysters and scallops for up to 2 other people acting in a dive safety capacity from that vessel.

# Toheroa must not be taken, possessed, or disturbed unless an open season is declared by the Director-General of the Ministry for Primary Industries.

• This is a combined, mixed-species bag limit. It applies to all shellfish species not specifically named above and includes all crabs, limpets, starfish, periwinkles, whelks, barnacles and freshwater crayfish (koura).

Recreational shellfish daily bag limits in the Auckland Coromandel area apply in the highlighted area depicted. This area extends on the east coast from Cape Rodney around the Coromandel Peninsula to Homunga Point (northern end of Waihi beach) and on the west coast from Okiritoto River (Muriwai Beach) to the sand-spit at Port Waikato.