‘Inadequate’ policies had raped Kaikoura coast

Press, 29 June 1988, Page 4

‘Inadequate’ policies had raped Kaikoura coast

The Kaikoura coastline had been raped and exploited through inadequate fishing policies, a Ngai Tahu elder said.

- Mr Wiremu Tehaere Solomon presented extensive tribal evidence to support an earlier submission made to the Waitangi Tribunal.

After criticising the Ministiy of Agriculture and Fisheries for “doing too little too late,” Mr Solomon outlined traditional Ngai Tahu settlements, fishing grounds and conservation

measures. The evidence was used to support the claim that tribespeople had been deprived of access to the fishing industry. Current fishing policies were condemned for exploiting the fisheries and ignoring Ngai Tahu rights guaranteed in the Treaty of Waitangi.

The Government’s failure to consult with Maori people had proved detrimental to the preservation of fisheries, Mr Solomon said.

Further fisheries eviwas also presented

by a Moeraki fisherman, Mr David Higgins.

That evidence was used to support the submission that most Ngai Tahu fishermen gained access to the fishery through an "accident of birth,” as descendants of pakeha whalers.

If they had not been dispossessed of their land, tribespeople would have had the capital to buy into the industry, he said. Alternatively, if their treaty rights had been recognised they would not have been deprived of the fisheries they owned.