Fishing deal decried

Press, 26 September 1988, Page 1

Fishing deal decried

By

RICHARD CRESSWELL

The Maori fishing deal, struck last week by the Government, defied both “morality and common sense,” a Chatham Island fisherman of Ngai Tahu and Ngati Mutunga descent, Mr Lea Clough, said yesterday. Mr Clough has been fishing for paua and rock lobster in the Chathams for the last eight years, and was on the island’s fishing

association for three years. He said that for 140 years both races could fish if they chose to do so. “Those who could cope succeeded and those unsuited quit under a non-racial natural selection process, imposed by the sea,” he' said. The taxpayer was now being asked to finance entry into the industry of those who felt like

dabbling in fishing. The Government has announced it:will transfer 2.5 per cent of quota (about 16,000 tonnes of fish) to the Maori tribal authorities per year, and provide financial assistance to allow Maori to enter commercial fishing, of up to $2 million a year for five years. It would be morally wrong for him to claim part of someone else’s livelihood, he said.