Iwi eyes eastern SI coast
By SETH ROBSON
Ngai Tahu has claimed customary ownership of a large part of the South Island's eastern coastal waters and foreshore.
A report prepared by the tribe's natural resources unit and obtained by The Press shows it wants a ban on marine farming along the entire Canterbury coast other than in some parts of Banks Peninsula.
The ban would include the coastal area covered by Environment Canterbury (ECan), which extends north beyond the Clarence River, and south to the Waitaki River.
Ngai Tahu is basing its request on customary ownership of the foreshore and seabed east of the South Island.
The Government is considering its position on such claims after a Court of Appeal ruling that gave the Maori Land Court power to rule on foreshore and seabed claims.
The Government had announced plans for legislation to protect public access but is rethinking its position after coming under attack by Maori MPs.
The Ngai Tahu report, Defining Aquaculture Management Areas, was prepared for ECan, which is implementing the Aquaculture Moratorium Resource Management Amendment Act.
The act has imposed a two-year moratorium on marine farm consents while regional councils prepare coastal plans and establish aquaculture management areas (AMAs).
Ngai Tahu held four hui before the report was prepared.
It states that Ngai Tahu claims customary rights in respect of the foreshore and the seabed and associated waterways and that the coastal marine area is a "taonga" guaranteed to iwi under the Treaty of Waitangi.
"One of the most fundamental issues from the perspective of runanga is that rights in respect of the foreshore, seabed, and associated waterways remain with tangata whenua and not with the Crown.
"Ngai Tahu is clear that the ownership of the foreshore and seabed, and coastal space more generally remains with the tribe," the report says.
The report sets out 10 types of coastal areas claimed by Ngai Tahu.
These include: kohanga – breeding grounds for fish; wahi tapu/taonga – places of spiritual significance; tauranga ika – traditional fishing areas; shipping routes; mataitai – marine reserves; taiapure – regulated fishing areas; places with a rahui or complete fishing ban on them; waha awa – river mouths; tourism areas such as the whale-watching area around Kaikoura; and rimurapa – bull kelp areas.
Ngai Tahu has also requested a "reasonable share" of AMAs – areas set aside for marine farming – be allocated to tangata whenua.
Ngai Tahu kaiwhakahaere (leader) Mark Solomon said non-Maori would still be allowed to use beaches in Canterbury: "not once has any iwi said that this claim to the foreshore and seabed is about excluding anyone."
ECan senior resource management planner David Gregory said the bulk of the Ngai Tahu report was received late last year but the maps detailing the claims were only received in May.
The report would be considered before any AMAs were established in Canterbury.
"ECan will consider the report along with a range of other factors including public submissions, a landscape/seascape study, and a Niwa (National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research) report on ecological considerations."
Mr Gregory said existing marine farms would not be affected by ECan's response to the report.
Akaroa Harbour marine farmer Roger Beattie said he would rather deal with Maori property owners than government bureaucrats in relation to marine farming issues.
Marine farmers expect years of delay while the Government sorts out rules for their industry.
However, Mr Beattie did not support giving Maori property rights over areas that they had stopped using for traditional purposes.
``Whatever rights they have got should be upheld and the reason we have a court system is to determine what rights people have.
``My stance is that use establishes rights. If people haven't been using their rights they lose them.''
There were many examples of areas where Ngai Tahu had continued to exercise traditional rights to the foreshore and the sea, including the area around Onuku Marae in Akaroa Harbour and along Kaitiaki Spit near the outlet from Lake Ellesmere.
``But as far as not wanting aquaculture over the whole of Canterbury I think that is pretty incredible. To claim rights to areas they have not used in the last 60 years exclusively is a nonsense.''
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