Paua aplenty in Kaikoura

Mates down in kaikoura for a few days, sent me some photos of paua littering the beach/rocks where he was after there must have been some big swells after a storm.
Many were legal size, he put about 100 back in the sea that looked like they still might survive. He reckens they just dieing on the beach down there and nobody gives a fuck.
Seems the paua have heathy numbers, pity you still cant get some.

my old man was born and bred down there (one of the founding families a few generations back) he reckons his mother would just say " think we will have crayfish and paua for lunch today go down and get some" and the kids would just go down and wade out and harvest enough crayfish and paua for their lunch......... poor bastards.