SUCCESS OF TAPU

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 100, 29 April 1937, Page 10

SUCCESS OF TAPU

"Long before the ships or the white man appeared in southern seas, the fishes that existed in the waters in and around these islands had been the subject of profound and systematic study," remarked Mr. A. E. HefTord last night when lecturing about fishes. "Their fisheries were an essential source of food supply to the Maori people, whose fishing lore, handed down from generation to generation, was extensive and very practical. In its more profound and authoritative aspects it was confined to those of chieftain or priestly rank, by whom all major fishing operations were directed and controlled through the strict laws of tapu. I suspect that these, though to our minds they appear saturated with superstitions and fanciful ideas, had very much the same object as our present-day j Fisheries Acts and regulations—the proper utilisation and conservation of the fishery resources—and were probably more successful in achieving their objects." I