Auckland rockpool harvesting crackdown imminent, promises minister

Thursday, 5 February 2026

A ban on collecting kaimoana from rock pools on Auckland’s east coast beaches is imminent, The Post understands.

And fisheries minister Shane Jones says he stands by his comments blaming migrants for the issue - and has promised to keep “speaking plainly” on the issue.

The move follows an outcry from residents of Omaha and Whangaparāoa in the city’s north, where hundreds of visitors have been documented turning up with buckets and piano wire to scrape the rocks bare of life.

Sea cucumbers, anemones, limpets, small crabs and even starfish are being harvested to “localised extinction”, locals have claimed, with some visitors seen setting up tents and barbecues right on the beach.

Last year, the local iwi, Ngāti Manuhiri, asked the Government for a two-year ban (rāhui) on harvesting various shoreline invertebrate species to allow marine life to recover.

Its chief executive Nicola Rata-MacDonald said it was time to “take starfish off the menu”.

The Post understands that ban could be in place as soon as next week.

Speaking from Waitangi, Jones, the Oceans and Fisheries Minister, said officials were finalising details such as how expansive the rāhui would be - whether it covers a wider area or specific sites which are being impacted.

“I just need to make sure that when we finally settle the parameters of it, it deals with the immediate problem without creating a precedent that alienates other Kiwis who aren't responsible for this turbo-charged foraging activity,” he said.

Mark Lenton, who started the Protect Whangaparāoa Rockpools group, said concerned locals had been trying to encourage the seafood gatherers to return their harvest back to the ocean, but they were “up against it”.

“You've got limits for things like paua and scallops, but a person can take up to 50 of the ‘all others’ [category] - that means one person can take 50 starfish in a day or a group of 10 can take 500 between them.”

It appears likely that the imminent rāhui would continue to rely on community action, but Jones says he's been assured by the Ministry of Primary Industries they would be “staunch” and their officers would “step up”.

He acknowledged there was pressure on the Government to bring in bans at other Auckland beaches being impacted by the activity, such as Piha and Muriwai on the west coast.

“It's a bigger issue than just rock pools. It's a matter really, as our population changes, how do we actually educate the migrants that this is not the Kiwi way?,” Jones said.

The minister has came under fire for targeting immigrants over the issue. Chinese MPs from both National and the Green Party have said Jones is unfairly blaming migrants for the problem, with one calling it was an election campaign tactic.

'I think this is simply a distraction because when we're looking at the most harmful [activities] to our … marine environment, it's industrial fishing, bottom trawling and seabed mining,' Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan told RNZ.

But Jones told The Post he stood by his comments - and said there would be more of it as the country headed towards the election.

“I have to be that politician who speaks plainly and in a four square manner. And I know some of the Indian and Taiwanese and whatnot were a bit offended. But hey, when in Rome do what the Romans do,” said Jones.

“And sadly, I think during the election year, I'm going to take a bit of a hammering from time to time with florid language.”

Jones said his iwi and people had learned the hard way that “unless we're very balanced in how we use kaimoana, there'll be nothing left”.