No appeal against seafood ruling

Press, 12 September 1986, Page 8

No appeal against seafood ruling

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will not appeal against the High Court ruling waiving prohibitions on Maoris taking seafood in traditional fishing areas. Maori people will continue to have open access to fisheries if it can be proved that they have traditional fishing rights. However, fisheries inspectors will still arrest anyone breaking existing regulations and if the Ministry’s legal advisers identify circumstances different from the pre-cedent-setting case, the offender will be prosecuted. Mr Justice Williamson’s decision in August quashed a conviction for having undersize paua against Mr Tom Te Weehi on the ground that he had “a traditional Maori fishing right.” The Ministry’s assistant director of fisheries management, Mr Ray Dobson,

said an appeal on the legality of the ruling would not have got at the heart of the issue, which was defining which Maoris were entitled to fish and where. Maoris had fishing rights guaranteed under a law passed in 1877 and written into Fisheries Management Plans since 1983. However, the ruling was the first to define it in one particular case, he said. The Ministry’s legal advisers would consider cases “very carefully” before deciding to take them to court. “We don’t want to clog up the courts for the sake of it,” said Mr Dobson. Although the courts would rule in particular cases, the Ministry was looking at a long-term solution for difficulties in applying the law, he said. Discussions were being held with Maori groups to determine how best to

incorporate into management plans what groups had traditional rights. These plans with a code of Maori fishing practices might be acceptable to most people, although special legislation setting out who was entitled to fisheries might have to be passed. The Law Review Commission was studying fishing rights and might produce legislation that could be applied successfully, said Mr Dobson. “It is a very complex question and will take some time to come up with the best answer.” • Having to enforce existing regulations, in spite of the ruling, would mean fisheries officers faced more problems at beaches but most would accept it as part of the job. Life for a fisheries officer was “fairly complicated” and one more complication would not make much difference.