Five more years for Tauroa's rahui

A hui-a-hapu called by the Ahipara Komiti Takutaimoana (management committee) at Roma Marae has adopted the komiti's recommendation that the rahui imposed between Te Kohanga (Shipwreck Bay) and Tauroa (Reef Point) in 2009, to protect rapidly depleting paua beds from over-exploitation, be extended for another five years.

Komiti chairman Patau Tepania said the rahui was the result of local whanau watching the kaimoana at Tauroa become severely depleted over several decades, while the current enforcement ethos of Fisheries officials had failed to provide any real protection for the resource.

In June 2011, with the support of Te Runanga o Te Rarawa and the involvement of several local schools, the komiti also initiated a paua reseeding programme that saw 20,000 juveniles planted out at Patito, in an attempt to strengthen the reproduction of the paua population.

"Education of our tamariki and wider whanau is a key part of the recovery plan," Mr Tepania said.

"Currently the rahui ecosystem is recovering well, including an increase in koura and paua numbers, but the number of juvenile paua is surprisingly low, which could indicate that they are still struggling to recover. "The aim of the komiti is to get to the stage where the balance of the ecosystem is restored and then dictates the sustainability of harvesting for today and the future."

The recommendation from the komiti, for the rahui to continue for the next five years and then be reviewed, was adopted by the hui-a-hapu.

Mr Tepania added that the current customary permit system that allowed whanau to gather kaimoana in larger quantities for hui and tangi than was allowed under the recreational regulations was also a concern for the komiti, members believing the system was flawed and not operating properly. They were also worried about the full extent of the current recreational regime's impact on the resource and its sustainability.

The komiti recommended that permit holders be mandated by marae and provide monthly reports on the permits issued so they can be analysed as part of conservation management plans. The hui-a-hapu resolved to no longer recognise permits issued by people living outside the area or by other iwi, and recommended that permit details be more specific, stating dates, areas of harvest, hui and marae details.

All the recommendations put forward by the komiti were adopted by the hui-a-hapu.

Further concerns were raised by the komiti regarding the commercial paua quota of 1.5 tonnes currently issued for Area 1, which includes the Ahipara coastline. Mr Tepania said the komiti, along with the hapu and marae, did not accept that while they were tirelessly working to save the paua from extinction, commercial fishers could come in, with the support of the law and take 1.5 tonnes tonnes of paua from a struggling ecosystem.

"At least with the customary permitting system we have a mechanism to measure how much is being taken from each collection area," Te Runanga o Te Rarawa chairman Haami Piripi said.

"However recreational fishing has continued to increase unmonitored without any checks or balances. Perhaps it's time to have the customary permitting system operate over the whole area, including both recreational and commercial take, within our rohe."