Tribe sets lakebed fishing levy

BY TIM DONOGHUE

Commercial eel fishermen are labelling a plan by South Island tribe Ngai Tahu to collect a percentage of their earnings an "iwi tax" and warn that it sets a precedent.

Ngai Tahu's new "conservation" levy is being described by Lake Ellesmere fishermen as the forerunner to a nationwide "iwi tax" system.

Mark Solomon, the chair of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, confirmed a permit was now required by commercial users of the lake. He said the commercial users permit was required to help iwi protect the lake. The welfare of Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere) had been of concern to most users for years.

"As owners of the lakebed we have to take an active role in managing Te Waihora," Mr Solomon said. The new permit system would not affect recreational users, or activities on the lake. It would apply only to the group of Banks Peninsula-based eel fishermen and any other commercial users of the lake.

Mr Solomon met the eel fishermen, who are allowed to catch about 122 tonnes of eels under allocation by the Fisheries Ministry, in Christchurch on December 3 to discuss the levy.

Briefing papers obtained by The Dominion Post were shown to the fishermen, stating that Ngai Tahu owns Lake Ellesmere's shallow-water lakebed, after the passage of its 1998 Treaty of Waitangi settlement.

The eelers were also told they were walking on Ngai Tahu property for commercial purposes when they drove their set-netting stakes into the lakebed.

Fisherman Clem Smith said the group was asked to contribute $29,000, or 8 per cent of the total annual eel fishery earnings of $360,000, to Ngai Tahu for Lake Ellesmere environmental restoration purposes. The iwi also receives revenue from leasing out its quota.

Mr Smith said fishermen and boaties in other parts of the country should prepare for similar taxes being imposed where riverbed, lakebed and foreshore areas were included in Treaty deals.

Mooring buoys and structures such as jetties and bridges on rivers and lakes, could be fair game for an "iwi tax", he said.

A similar deal has been operating over Lake Taupo since 1926 central North Island tribe Tuwharetoa struck a deal with the Crown for 50 per cent of fishing fees in return for continued public access to Lake Taupo.

Mr Smith said he had fished Lake Ellesmere for 33 years. Small fishermen like himself, who had been threatened with a lakebed trespass notice at the end of January, would have no option but to sign up to the deal if they wanted to remain in the fishing business.

"This situation has turned very nasty. I think people negotiating Treaty settlements have to be very careful to get things right. At the time of the Ngai Tahu settlement both Ngai Tahu and the Government said other people would not be affected.

"If that is what was meant, it was not put into the legislation," Mr Smith said.

Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley refused to be drawn into the row yesterday.

"This is purely a matter between Ngai Tahu and the commercial users of the lake," he said.

In a briefing paper to the Lake Ellesmere fishermen, Seafood Industry Council policy manager Nici Gibbs described the situation as "very scary".

She said the Crown, in dealing with foreshore and seabed-type issues, had failed to protect fishing industry rights and interests when settling Maori grievances.

Mr Solomon said DOC supported the permit system and appreciated that money raised would go directly to lake projects, including riparian planting, lake monitoring, research projects and enhancement of the fishery.

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