The district councilors of South Wairarapa has decided to put a submission to the Ministry of Fisheries on the Ngati Hinewaka proposal to establish a 3km Mataitai along the shoreline at Pukaroro and a 9km one slightly further south at Matakitaki a Kupe that would begin near Te Awaiti in the north, take in Rocky Point and end on the fringe of Palliser Bay in the vicinity of Mangatoetoe Stream.
However, the council ahs not indicated any support or opposition to the Mataitai applications but will formulate its submission “taking the advice of the Rural Services Committee”. The new reserves would ban commercial fishermen from fishing inside the boundaries while recreational and customary fishing would be unaffected. Experts said that this is a last-ditch effort to protect the inshore fishery that has been plundered to such an extent it is feared seafood resources are barely viable for customary fishing alone.
Now the question arises that whether Ngati Hinewaka intended to arbitrarily impose catch limits. Julie Riddell said most people agreed in principle with the Mataitai concept but much more in-depth consultation was needed so people got a real grasp of what was intended. Dianne Phelps said she believed there was general support for the proposal but commercial fishermen at Ngawi might have a different opinion.
Maori Standing Committee representative Sonny Te Maire said there would be no change to recreational or customary fishing and that only commercial fishing would be affected by the Mataitai reserves. He said that the depletion of the fishery had gathered speed in modern times.
