Source: Radio New Zealand
A sand-mining dredge in action off Pākiri Beach. Supplied
A sand-mining dredge in action off Pākiri Beach.
Sand-mining company McCallum Bros is under investigation for alleged wildlife breaches, while dredging offshore at Pākiri, north of Auckland.
Pākiri local Damon Clapshaw said he provided information to the Department of Conservation (DOC), showing protected stony coral was discovered in March 2025 by an ecological testing company working for McCallum Bros.
He said it was formally identified three months later, but dredging continued during the three-month period.
He believed DOC should have been notified of the discovery at the time, and was concerned coral may have been disturbed in the months between its discovery and the cessation of dredging.
Stony coral is a living organism protected under the Wildlife Act. It provides a protective environment for many forms of sealife to breed and shelter.
Clapshaw said the company later found stony coral in almost all of the areas it was allowed to dredge in.
He sent what he described as a “dossier” of information to DOC for it to assess for potential breaches.
Department of Conservation (DOC) border and species trade manager Ben Cornelius confirmed an investigation was underway.
“DOC’s role is to investigate two alleged breaches of the Wildlife Act 1953,” he said.
Cornelius was unable to comment on specific details, while the investigation was ongoing, but he said a company taking or disturbing protected marine wildlife could face an infringement notice of up to $800, or face prosecution and a fine of up to $300,000.
Failing to notify DOC of accidental death or injury of protected marine wildlife can incur an infringement notice of $600, or prosecution and fine of $10,000.
“The preliminary investigation has been completed and we will undertake an internal review before determining the next steps,” Cornelius said. “We expect to confirm an outcome in the first quarter of 2026.”
DOC said this was the first time the company had been investigated.
McCallum Bros chief operating officer Shayne Elstob told RNZ the company had responded to DOC’s queries.
“An allegation, which is not admitted, regarding breaches of the Wildlife Act whilst MBL [McCallum Bros Limited] was operating its Pākiri sand extraction consent, has been made by a private party to the Department of Conservation,” he said.
Clapshaw said he had monitored the dredging path of the boat during 2025 and was concerned it repeatedly dredged the same path. When he asked the company why, he was told this was because most of the area was off-limits, due to the presence of stony coral.
Previously Clapshaw was instrumental inproving the company was leaving deep trenches in the Pākiri seabed.
“There has been a history of poor performance. There have been consent breaches and there has been operational conduct that the court found of grave concern.”
The company breached a temporary consent, by taking more sand than was allowed during a 30-day period, Clapshaw said. In a letter RNZ has seen, a McCallum Bros staff member told Auckland Council the error was due to an incorrectly set-up spreadsheet.
No formal enforcement action has been taken against McCallum Bros by Auckland Council for the trenches, although the company was unsuccessful in an Environment Court case to dredge at Pākiri.
The Environment Court said evidence about the ecological effects of the mining provided by the company had been “patchy”, “inconclusive” and even “incorrect” in the past.
McCallum Bros then abandoned a High Court appeal of the decision, settling costs of $450,000 with the Manuhiru Kaitiaki Charitable Trust.
“McCallum’s proven under-performance at Pākiri raises concerns for Bream Bay, in particular for marine ecology and protected species,” Clapshaw said.
The company has ceased sand-mining at Pākiri, but has applied for consent to mine sand at Bream Bay, further up the coast from Pākiri.
The proposal is to use a suction dredge to remove up to 150,000 cubic metres of sand a year for an initial three years and up to 250,000 cubic metres a year for the next 32 years.
In total, more than 8 million cubic metres of sand would be removed from a 17 square kilometre area of seabed.
Numerous protests have been held and, in December 2025, Whangārei District councillors voted unanimously to oppose the project.
Councillor David Baldwin said sand-mining offered no jobs or economic benefits to Bream Bay or Northland, even though regional benefit was a requirement of the fast-track law.
From left, Malcolm Morrison, Damon Clapshaw, Mary Sinclair and Bruce Copeland. Supplied
The Bream Bay Guardians are fighting the fast-track application to sand-mine at Bream Bay. Spokesperson Malcolm Morrison said, if proven, the allegations raised serious concerns.
“If an operator is allegedly failing to comply with environmental and wildlife protections elsewhere, it is entirely reasonable to question what risks Bream Bay would face, if sand-mining were approved under a fast-tracked process.”
The company’s attempt to gain approval for dredging at Pākiri to be included in the Fast-track Approvals Act was unsuccessful, but an application for Bream Bay was approved.
A substantive application for the project has not yet been lodged. This will be assessed by an expert panel.
Pākiri’s sand was used in construction and infrastructure projects in Auckland.
The company’s fast-track application for Bream Bay says the project will supply a long-term, sustainable source of sand for Auckland, Northland, Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty that is suitable for concrete production.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
