Some of the 116kg of paua recently seized by Ministry of Primary Industries inspectors may be poisonous in addition to having been illegally taken.

Ministry for Primary Industries Waikato/Bay of Plenty district compliance manager Brendon Mikkelsen says some of the paua will be checked for paralytic shellfish poison.

Black market paua might be poisonous, and illegal. Photo: Suppiled.

Officers seized paua, dive gear, electronic equipment, including computers, tablets and cell phones, and two freezers in raids last week that shut down a black market ring allegedly centred on Motiti Island last week.

A paralytic shellfish poison warning has been in place in the area since November 9.

Divers from Motiti are alleged to be selling the paua and kina to buyers in Tauranga, Whakatane, Hamilton and Auckland.

Toxin infected paua may still be eaten if the gut is removed before cooking, because the toxin is located in the gut.

'We will be looking into that as well as the direct fisheries component of it,” says Brendon. 'It's certainly not good from a health perspective in terms of that risk.”

Raids were made after about a year of monitoring alleged black market activity.

Fishery officers and police searched houses on Motiti Island and in Tauranga, as well as several business.

Two freezers containing 116kg of paua with a commercial value of $15,000 were seized at a powered storage facility at Mount Maunganui during the raids.

The paua was minced and frozen in 500g and 1kg bags – 210 bags in total.

A Tauranga food business is alleged to be involved in the sale of paua and kina.

During the investigation, it's believed 231kg of minced paua, with a commercial value of $30,000, was poached and sold. It's believed 43 litres of kina were poached and sold for $3500.

'Paua and kina don't move around much and need to be in reasonable numbers to successfully reproduce,” says Brendon.

'Such offending in concentrated areas may impact on the species' ability to breed and on other people's opportunity to gather.

'People like this are effectively thieving seafood from their own communities to make a quick buck.”

Brendon says fishery officers will be going through the seized electronic equipment and carrying out further investigations before considering laying charges.

'We'd like to hear from anyone who may have information that will help us with our inquiries,” he says.