Tribe sets lakebed fishing levy
BY TIM DONOGHUE
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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.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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Whether New Zealanders like it or not the previous Labour Govt opened up a Pandoras Box over Treaty Compensation and associated issues. What is amusing here is to how long the public have taken to finally realise the perpetual creepage of these issues. No wonder 50,000 people are leaving NZ each year. The recent Sealord job cuts are from an essentially Maori owned Enterprise so nothing is safe any more it seems. But get used to it folks the Tree Lord Forestry Compensation over climate change is just around the corner.
I am sick of Europeans trying to stop tribal initiatives set by real kiwis to try and make you see... Europeans are the instigators of this system and have imposed it on every other race on the planet since they INVENTED THE WHOLE SYSTEM in the first place,Now the shoe is on the other foot - the are shunting, lol. for those that dont know...the tax system is a scam, designed to control the masses and fill the pockets of our govt to pay for the money lenders who run the whole thing. :) www.zeitgeist.com
Julia #40 and others. Indeed the iwi are already charging the eelers for access to the commercial fishery, "The iwi also receives revenue from leasing out its quota." The lakebed access levy appears to be additional to this.
gees Wayne! I left the country 10years ago and it sounds as though the arguments are still the same... as soon as a Maori organisation has the audacity to think with any business acumen all hell breaks loose...
I do agree with Jack our country is not one we do have fundamental differences but that does not mean we can't co exist and accept our differences. My biggest worry is that NZ is becoming a multicultural society so when the crunch comes and these people start bring there culture an beliefs in what we consider to be the NZ way which side of the fence will pakeha and Maori be sitting on?...
ha, nz voted for change and change in what we are getting,,I hear Jim Anderton warning " be careful what you wish for, you may just get it!!!"
I was very disappointed by this article in the Dominion Post this morning - the way that it was set out, "IWI TAX" in red writing etc seeks to perpetuate the divisions between Maori and Pakeha. The media has a lot of answer for when it comes to race relations in NZ, it seeks to sensationalise situations where race is often not a large factor. This situation, for example, it essentially about the official owner of property used by members of the public taking an active role in its management.
This article failed to point out that ANY public body which controls a fishing resource has the right and indeed does impose levies in the form of permits and licences for those partaking in commercial fishing. Just because it happens to be an iwi that controls the resource, does it make a difference? It seems only fair that those who reap the benefits of such a resource should contribute to its upkeep.
And as for comment #36 - Jack....hommie please! You obviously have very little understanding of the legal and political importance of the Treaty in the conception of NZ as a naton (and the fact that the treaty has little to do with the current article). Do a little research behind the Treaty before making arguments based on worn out rhetoric!
I ABSOLUTELY agree with #23... Stuff.co.nz - why on heck do you always lead a minority of NZ'ers into a race-hate argument with your provocotive headlines. Why is it that you do not EVER cover anything good about Maori celebrations.
Of course we are indeed one country - gezus, give Maori some due course!
WOW - I wish some people will politely educate themselves a little better before posting such cr*p. Its great you show pictures of the poor small time fisherman... what a joke. You dont own the land or the seabed... so you - YES YOU! do not have a say about what happens to the land.
chur
I stongly support Kai Tahu in their levy for fishing. They are the guardians of the lake and provide considerable oversight in its care and protection. Over the years they have engaged in this task in an exemplary manner.
As for all this "one people" talk - time to get over that, folks. We are not one people, all the same with one law for all. We don't all have the same rights, the same priviliges or the same responsibilities. We don't all have the same access to inheritance, the same access to education or the same access to health care. Another poster described this yearning for sameness as being very PC. I agree. It is unhelpful and unhealthy. We don't need it in NZ.
The fishermen are not racist! Maori are able to customary catch on the lake as far as I know too. The local marae doesn't agree with the levy. It's not that the fishermen don't want to help conserve the lake, of course they do. The Lake is being hurt more by dairy farming more than anything else but that's another issue. It's the other things in the contract they are not happy about. Ngai Tahu own the lakebed, not the eels or the water so why should they par a percentage of their gross earnings. Why not have a one off charge. If you lease a paddock off a farmer you pay a one off charge. Not depending on how many sheep etc you put on it.
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Once again, the media is trying to create confrontation and divide the kiwi community into Maori and pakeha.