Runaka holds the line on mataitai

I have posted about the proposal for this mataitai - I support it.

"Submissions against a proposed mataitai for Otago Harbour are unlikely to alter the move to protect the area, a runanga spokesman says.

The mataitai, or fishing reserve, would cover all but six specified areas of the Otago Harbour used for commercial purposes.

The mataitai committee and runanga representatives have decided to proceed with the application after reviewing the submissions last week, Otakou runanga manager Hoani Langsbury said.

While several submissions focused on a possible cockle industry in the harbour, Otago Harbour was also home to other fisheries such as oysters, flat fish and salmon. A mataitai would protect Otago Harbour for all residents rather than benefit commercial operators, Mr Langsbury said.

For all residents

"The submission by Golden Bay-based Westhaven Shellfish said the application was "ill conceived" and "potentially quite damaging to the Maori people as a whole".

Stick to cockles, maori will let you know what they think is damaging or not.

"In his submission, Southern Clams director Roger Belton said the proposal "would prevent people from realising the best value from the sustainable and efficient use of fisheries resources in Otago Harbour".

"Locking up the resource would prevent Dunedin from firmly establishing itself as the `clam capital' of New Zealand . . . The value of this to the region is immeasurable and so too is the value of export dollars to the country."

It just sounds like greed to me. Sustainability must be the answer and the tangata whenua are looking after all residents interests not just the ones set to make money. Just really think about the mentality that thinks protecting a resource is locking it up and wasting it - that worldview is what has polluted and destroyed so many living entities and ecosystems around our planet.
Ka pai Otakou Runaka for keeping this mataitai proposal alive.