By Celsias team
Posted on June 9, 2010. Listed in:
A deliberate dump may be behind a mysterious raft of fish washed up on Northland beaches over the weekend.
Queen’s Birthday holidaymakers reported seeing thousands of yellowtail and some seals and stingrays washed up along Glinks Gully and Bayleys Beach last Thursday and Friday, reported the Herald.
The Ministry of Fisheries has launched an investigation into the cause of the incident.
The Ministry’s Northland field operations manager Darren Edwards told the Herald possibilities included an accident, such as a net tearing open, a natural event such as algal poisoning or deliberate dumping at sea.
A deliberate dumping is carried out usually by fishing boats which overfish the quota on certain species. However, Edwards said it was too early to determine the cause.
Another theory put forth was that the mass death of the yellowtails was an entirely natural occurance in the dog eat dog marine world.
"The theory of fishermen around here is that the kingfish are chasing in the kahawai and they are chasing in the little ones,” said Geoff Nicoll, of Glinks Gully Holiday Park."They were definitely not dumped, they were still alive. This happens every year and in the last month four to five times."
Image: Flickr – Mahalie Stackpole
