Bay of Plenty fisheries officers are trying to solve the mystery of dead snapper that washed up on northern Coromandel beaches on Tuesday.

Quantities of snapper were found on the beach at Little Bay and Waikawau Bay on Tuesday afternoon. Fisheries officers have since learned the fish were first seen 12 hours earlier, at about 5am Tuesday.

Snapper.

The delay in calling the fisheries' 0800 POACHER number is making it difficult to establish facts says Tauranga based fisheries field operations manager for the Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Coromandel, Brendon Mikkelsen.

'We've no real detailed information. It is unfortunate we didn't know about it earlier,” says Brendon.

'If we had heard about it earlier, given the circumstances, we would probably have put a flight up to gain an impression of the quantity.

'But 12 hours down the track the fish are pretty hot, they have been out in the sun all day, and when they wash up on the beach the birds have pecked the eyes out.

'We have had a look at the fish, taken possession of some of the fish, but it's really unfortunate that we didn't know about it earlier.

'We need to know and if people call us immediately on the 0800 POACHER number then we can do something about it. They can use that number for any incident really.”

Rumoured theories about the cause of the wash-up include that the fish are diseased, that they were abandoned by a commercial operator, or are the result of a split net, but Brendon has no information to support any theory.

Fisheries officers even have conflicting reports about the quantity.

'Depending on who we talk to, some are saying very few, others are saying hundreds.

'We just don't know,” says Brendon.

'We are happy to talk to anybody that can shed further light on it.”