Te Ohu adds expertise to ‘Seachange 05'

The chairman of Te Ohu Kaimoana Shane Jones and members of the policy team contributed their expertise and views on the future of coastal and oceans management at ‘Seachange 05' held in Auckland in November.

Senior analyst Tania McPherson spoke on the protection of Maori fisheries assets at a workshop on the legal framework for costal and marine management. She said that the Maori view of marine management – wise-use and protection – was underrepresented during the conference.

The conference was hosted by the Environmental Defence Society and sponsored by government agencies, regional councils and a number of environmental NGOs with policies leaning towards “hands off” protection of the marine environment.

Tania said Te Ohu Kaimoana was the only group advocating on behalf of Maori. “We have assets from which New Zealand as a whole benefits – economically, culturally and recreationally. All iwi and hapu play a role in the management and conservation of our coastal resources and that needs to be recognised.”

It is in the interests of New Zealand's wider community to manage the ocean sustainably in order to generate income now and into the future: this can only be done by protecting the natural balance of marine eco-systems.

“Unfortunately, what we saw at Seachange were groups and individuals advocating total protection with little regard to rights guaranteed to various groups of people, including Maori,” said Tania.

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Tiakina ngā rawa hi ika, a tātou kaimoana mo ngā uri whakaheke
Protecting Māori fisheries assets for future generations

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