Ngāi Tahu Customary Fisheries

There is a lot of on-going work in the area of customary fisheries, in particular the Ngāi Tahu Customary Fisheries Protection Areas Project and continuing support for the establishment of mātaitai has featured over the past year. Toitū Te Whenua is helping facilitate the establishment of a co-ordinated network of customary fisheries protection areas, spread throughout the Ngāi Tahu Whānui takiwā. This process will ensure Ngāi Tahu maximise the effectiveness of customary protection areas both individually and collectively, while minimising the impact on the commercial fishing assets of the tribe.

Three major criteria are considered in selecting areas for protection:

• The need to ensure an appropriate spread of protection throughout the takiwā so that all Papatipu Rūnanga receive some form of customary protected area if they chose to participate;
• The need to protect a range of fisheries resources from the mountains to the sea (ki uta ki tai) wherever possible;
• The need to protect traditional fishing grounds that have contemporary significance.

Mātaitai Reserves and fisheries regulations prohibiting the commercial harvesting of certain key mahinga kai species are the most common tools chosen to establish the customary protection areas to date. We are now busy supporting the many customary protection area applications that have been lodged with the Ministry of Fisheries.

Toitū Te Whenua is supporting ngā Tāngata Tiaki/Kaitiaki for the recently established mātaitai at Kākā Point (Punawai o Tōriki) and Waikawa to develop and implement management plans for these fisheries. The focus of recent mahi has been on drafting new fishing rules to reduce fishing pressure, erecting compliance signage, conducting fishing surveys to assess who is taking what.

With the assistance of the University of Otago through our strategic partnership with Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai (a national network of Tangata Tiaki/Kaitiaki, natural resource managers, advisors and researchers) a baseline survey of fisheries health is also being conducted in the Punawai o Tōriki mātaitai.

We have also been working with the Akaroa Taiāpure Management Committee to develop and implement new fishing rules within the taiāpure. These rules are in place to enhance fisheries resources and to ensure long-term conservation of the area. The regulations include reduced bag limits for species such as blue cod, blue moki, butterfish, red cod, sea perch, trumpeter, rock lobster, cockle and cat's eye. There will also be a new combined daily bag limit of 10 for all finfish and the taking of seahorse and shellfish from Ōnawe Peninsula is also prohibited.