A Mount Maunganui restaurant's contentious ‘baby snapper' special is leaving a bad taste in the mouths of fisheries advocacy group LegaSea, which says it should not promote small fish.

New restaurant Dixie Brown in Mount Maunganui placed a sandwich board outside its Marine Parade premises advertising a lunch dish of ‘baby snapper infused with lemon and rosemary'.

The billboard outside Dixie Brown restaurant in Mount Maunganui.

A picture of that sandwich board was then posted on advocacy group Legasea's Facebook page saying snapper stocks in the Bay of Plenty are in a state of collapse and the restaurant is advertising "baby snapper as if it's a delicacy”.

In 2013, Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy introduced a new law that from April 1 will reduce snapper bag limits from nine to seven and raise the minimum size of snapper catches from 27-30cm for recreational fishers. Commercial operators are able to continue landing 25cm fish.

Dixie Brown's owner Michael Opperman says it is never his intention to provide the misconception of undersized snapper, but rather a whole snapper that someone could finish on their own.

'They were all 30centimetres. I was offered the eight whole baby snapper as a one-off by my reputable supplier,” says Michael.

'I am a fisherman myself so I know what side they are coming from.”

Michael has since spoken to LegaSea about the concerns and will not promote baby snapper again.

Feedback on the issue online is mixed with some saying diners should boycott the restaurant while others say it is in bad taste LegaSea is shaming the business without fully investigating.

One Facebook poster wrote:

'As a chef I have in the past advertised exactly the same using snapper purchased through a reputable wholesaler and market. Colourful language is used to attract tourists, and this is exactly what this place has used. Check the facts before slagging somebody and killing a business”.

Another says 'perhaps naming and "shaming" a business that has acted within the law is a bad move here, at the end of the day they have done nothing wrong, it's the rules that need changing, not the people abiding by them. A picture of the sign would have been enough to get your point across without naming them when they have done nothing wrong.”.

Legasea national programme leader Mandy Kupenga says the incident is a reflection of how passionate Bay of Plenty recreational fishers feel about the difference in snapper sizes and limits or commercial and recreational fishers.

'The Bay of Plenty is an area in particular which is in the most trouble when it comes to these snapper stocks; it's in a state of collapse,” says Mandy.

'It just shows how passionate people are about those differences. So obviously people who fish in the Bay the last thing they want to see is people advertising baby snapper on the menu.”

After speaking with Michael, Mandy says he understands the group's concerns are 'totally genuine”.

'Once we talked he was really open and willing to make positive changes to not be contentious when it comes to advertising different items on his menu.”

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