Coromandel's Eastern Peninsula community is outraged commercial fishing boats, donning pirate flags, are harvesting scallops in a rāhui zone.
They were spotted in the area yesterday, which has been under a voluntary rāhui since December to allow scallop beds to recover.
Until Fisheries approves an application for a temporary ban on taking scallops there, the shellfish are fair game.
Ngāti Hei kaumatua Joe Davis spoke to Corin Dann.
