FISHING IN TAUPO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3763, 27 April 1926, Page 15

FISHING IN TAUPO.

AGREEMENT WITH NATIVES. PRIME MINISTERS BARGAIN. AUCKLAND, April 22. One of the most important events in tho history of Taupo County was a meeting at the Waihi village yesterday, when the Rt. Hon J. G. Coates (Minister of Native Affairs) met the assembled representatives of the Tuwharetoa and other tribles interested to negotiate an agreement respecting the fishing lights in the 'Jaupo waters. An agreement was made for the payment to the Natives of a minimum annual sum of #3OOO for the fishing rights of Lake Taupo. Sir Maui Pornare, Minister representing the Native race, was present at the conference. Hoar.i Te Heuhev" Chief of the Tuwharetoa people, briefly addressed the Native Minister He assured Mr Coates that they were anxious to arrive at a settlement of the fishing rights’ question, and they were convinced that the Minister had the interests of tire Native people at heart, a 3 had Ids' respected predecessor. Mi Massey. Ugtiha Huirama outlined the wishes of the Natives, and stated that they asked for a payment of #15,000 in return for tho secession to tbe Crown of all the Nativa rights over the lake waters, this sum to he paid in perpetuity under conditions to he drawn up similar to those under which the Arawa people of Rotorua were receiving an -annual sum of #6OOO. In reply, Mr Coates said that the Crown was not concerned with the ownership of the lake. All the Government wanted was to secure to the Natives some financial benefit from the fishing attractions of the lake. At present licenses were issued by the Government, and except in one or two localities where the Natives charged the fishermen a further fee. the Natives got nothing. Undoubtedly they should get something for the. fishing rights, and the Government wished to ensure that they got it He would at once inform them candidly that they had two chances of obtaining an annual payment of #15,090, as they had asked—namely, their own and Buckley’s. Was there no other way in which an understanding could bo readied? The Government, he said, had an offer to make which was that the fees for fishing licenses in the Taupo waters should be increased perhans to £G for overseas fishermen and to #3 for New Zealandevs, and that 59 per cent, of the amount so obtained should be paid to the Natives', the balance to be expended bv the Government in maintaining the standard of the fis!”-'*, advertising. administration, and so on. In return for this payment which would be made to the Native Bond to be set up to administer the money for the benefit of the Natives, the Native? would handover to the Government all the fishing right? in am] over the Taupo water?. D w"s estimated that the amount which tbe Native? v-e«'d receive under this arrangement would probab'v be between #2OOO and #2500. which would increase in the near future with the growth of the tourist traffic. He wished to point out that the payment made annually to the Arawa people was not a payment for the beds of the Rotorua Lakes, but was made in consideration of services rendered to the Crown by the Arawa people in the Maori war days. The Government did not want to have anything to do with the bed of Lake Taupo, which was quite a different matter from the question of the fishing rights in the Taupo waters. Mr Coates then suggested that after an adjournment for lifnehcon a committee of Native leaders should meet him at a roundtable conference, when lie was sure a settlement satisfactory to fill could be arranged. This course was adopted, and later tli« assembled Natives held a meeting at which Chief Hosnj Te Heuheu moved a resolution that the Natives hand over to the Crown their fishing rights in and over Lake Taupo in consideration of a perpetual annual payment by the Crown of £3099 provided that should 50 per rent, of the fishing licenses fees collected by the Crown he more than £3OOO, then such larger sum should be paid.

The resolution was carried unanimously, and the Ministerial party re-entering the meeting hall, it was conveyed to Mr Coates. It was made.clear that details of the manner in which the money was to be paid and administe r I were to be settled at a later date, and that the question of fishing right* in the streams and rivers was also to be gone into later. In reply to this, Mr Coates statpd that the Government would accept tbe offer, but th«t the details would have to be settled later,