{"id":175864,"date":"2025-12-09T19:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T19:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/175864\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T19:02:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T19:02:09","slug":"tauranga-iwi-place-rahui-along-mount-maunganui-coast-to-protect-kaimoana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/175864\/","title":{"rendered":"Tauranga iwi place r\u0101hui along Mount Maunganui coast to protect kaimoana"},"content":{"rendered":"

For p\u0101ua and k\u014dura, the area encompassed the rocky reef and coastal margins around Mauao, including the ocean and harbour sides.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe customary r\u0101hui area on k\u016btai. Graphic \/ Tauranga Moana Iwi Customary Fisheries Trust<\/p>\n

The trust deals with customary fisheries on behalf of the iwi of Tauranga Moana \u2013 Ng\u0101i Te Rangi, Ng\u0101ti Ranginui and Ng\u0101ti P\u016bkenga. <\/p>\n

Ellis said the about 20 appointed tangata kaitiaki (guardians) for marae from Tauranga to P\u0101p\u0101moa and Otawhiwhi (Bowentown) had agreed no new customary fishing permits would be issued for these species within the r\u0101hui areas.<\/p>\n

The r\u0101hui would remain in place while the trust developed m\u0101taitai reserve bylaws, or until the trust and tangata kaitiaki determined the stocks had sufficiently recovered.<\/p>\n

A m\u0101taitai reserve is an area closed to commercial fishing that may have bylaws affecting recreational and customary fishing.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to build the population up and let those brood stock grow bigger so that they can reproduce more for future years,\u201d Ellis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe acknowledge the support of the wider community and respectfully ask all fishers, customary, recreational and commercial, to honour the r\u0101hui and uphold the intentions behind it.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe customary r\u0101hui area on p\u0101ua and k\u014dura. Graphic \/ Tauranga Moana Iwi Customary Fisheries Trust<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not really taking anything away from anyone \u2026 because there aren\u2019t any big enough to harvest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boulders removed by upcoming dredging would be used to create reef corridors where k\u014dura could shelter as they move through the harbour.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re enhancing the habitat and enhancing some of the species,\u201d Ellis said.<\/p>\n

Ellis said the trust was working with the Port of Tauranga, University of Waikato and Deep Dive Division \u2013 a company developing artificial habitats<\/a> \u2013 as part of long-term restoration efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to look at resetting the p\u0101ua bed as well, so that while the r\u0101hui is on, we\u2019re actually boosting our species production at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The r\u0101hui was enacted through tikanga (M\u0101ori customs) while the trust worked to develop the bylaws.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe r\u0101hui is a transition period so people can get used to not taking the kaimoana until it becomes enforceable,\u201d Ellis said.<\/p>\n

\" A m\u0101taitai reserve in Mount Maunganui. Graphic \/ MPI<\/p>\n

Fisheries New Zealand director of fisheries management Emma Taylor said, under tikanga M\u0101ori, a r\u0101hui was respected and adherence to them was voluntary and generally well supported.<\/p>\n

Fisheries New Zealand had not yet received an application for a temporary closure to support the r\u0101hui.<\/p>\n

To provide statutory support, tangata whenua could request the Oceans and Fisheries Minister impose a temporary closure to prohibit all recreational and commercial fishing.<\/p>\n

A m\u0101taitai reserve already prohibited commercial fishing in Mount Maunganui, Taylor said.<\/p>\n

The maximum recreational daily limit was 25 mussels per person.<\/p>\n

R\u0101hui follows toxin warning<\/p>\n

The r\u0101hui comes after New Zealand Food Safety issued a warning last week urging people not to gather or eat shellfish along the western Bay of Plenty coastline after routine testing detected dangerous levels of a toxin that can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning.<\/p>\n

The warning applied from just north of the Maket\u016b Beach estuary to the northern end of Waih\u012b Beach, and covered species including mussels, oysters, tuatua, pipi, toheroa, cockles, scallops, p\u016bp\u016b (cat\u2019s eyes) and Cook\u2019s turban.<\/p>\n

P\u0101ua, crab and crayfish remained safe to eat only if the gut was completely removed before cooking, as toxins concentrated in the gut.<\/p>\n

Anyone unwell after eating shellfish from the affected area should call Healthline on 0800 611 116 or seek immediate medical attention.<\/p>\n

Bijou Johnson<\/a> is a journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. A passionate writer and reader, she grew up in Tauranga and developed a love for journalism while exploring various disciplines at university. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from Massey University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For p\u0101ua and k\u014dura, the area encompassed the rocky reef and coastal margins around Mauao, including the ocean…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8038,4763,33846,22509,665,1558,11586,9191,20589,50521,112819,17707,13233,111,43,139,69,1523,6744,21940,30308,112820,39427,3649,1227,61],"class_list":["post-175864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-natural","tag-allow","tag-along","tag-areas","tag-around","tag-been","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-harbour","tag-iwi","tag-kaimoana","tag-maunganui","tag-mount","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-over","tag-place","tag-placed","tag-protect","tag-replenishment","tag-rhui","tag-species","tag-tauranga","tag-to"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}