The work was carried out by fisherman Andrew Parker and his crew aboard paua dive boat Ultimate.
Mr Parker, an executive member of the PauaMac 5 working group, said the aim was to ensure the long-term sustainability of the paua fishery by determining the growth rate of paua in the area.
The survey was work traditionally carried out by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, but was now done by members of the Paua Industry Council to reduce costs for its quota holders, he said.
Niwa scientist Reyn Naylor said the surveys were done to provide the Ministry of Fisheries with growth information on paua stocks, which was then used to help assess the allowable catch limits.
As paua growth varied greatly across different areas, it was important to tag paua in different areas.
A few years ago, paua had been tagged in the Catlins and this year it was being done in Colac Bay and Dog Island, as well as Moeraki.
It had also been undertaken in Fiordland and the Chatham Islands.
"Over such a large area we need to get an idea of variation in growth to make it easier to estimate."
It made sense to have the industry do the surveying as its members knew where the paua were, the conditions and was already in the area.
About 10% of the 800 paua tagged were expected to be re-caught in about a year as they moved around.
Mr Parker said paua ranging in size from 58mm to 135mm were caught, measured and labelled with a numbered yellow plastic tag glued to their shell.
They were then returned to the water from where they were taken.
As many of the tagged paua that could be found in one year would be re-caught, measured and returned for future measuring.
"Great care is taken not to injure the paua when being caught and handled."
While it would be some years until there were meaningful results from the survey, visually, the beds looked quite good, he said.
