Overfishing by recreational boaties visiting Jackson Bay is driving local iwi to consider imposing customary law restrictions including more mataitai (fishing reserves) and potentially a rahui (prohibition order) to protect the dwindling resource.
Over summer, locals reported that Jackson Bay was overwhelmed with more than 80 recreational fishing boats being towed over the Haast Pass from Queenstown and Central Otago each weekend.
Te Runanga o Makaawhio and Ngati Mahaki kaumatua Helen Rasmussen has criticised the visitors for their habits.
"Some boaties are coming here with little understanding or respect for the delicate fisheries and eco-systems of the area. They are plundering paua and koura [crayfish] which, if continued, will have a devastating and long-term impact," Mrs Rasmussen said.
"Ocean Beach has had its paua stocks trashed, and the kicker is that their behaviour is protected in legislation.
"We recently heard of an instance where a group of three boats took over 400 crayfish in a week. There's just no justification for taking that many fish."
Te Runanga o Makaawhio holds rangatiratanga over the area as manawhenua, recognised by Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998.
"As rangatira we are invested in a sustainable future for South Westland.’’
Ngati Mahaki was leading discussions with other local community leaders, the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Department of Conservation to identify solutions based on tikanga (customary law), she said.
Several mataitai proposed in the past had been abandoned over concerns from local commercial fishermen, but with changes in legislation now allowing commercial fishing to occur in mataitai, the iwi would revisit the earlier proposals, Mrs Rasmussen said.
The move was about sustaining the fishery for current and future generations, "not those who treat the place as a larder’’, she said.
- Helen Murdoch, Greymouth Star
