MAORIS OBJECTION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 54, 16 July 1947, Page 5

MAORIS OBJECTION

WHITEBAITING CONTROL KAITUNA RIVER AREA Exception to an Order in Council published in the 'Gazette on June 25 restricting the erection of whitebaiting stands at the mouth of the Kaituna River at Maketu has been taken by members of the Arawa Trust Board in Rotorua, who claim that the Marine Department, under whose jurisdiction the administration of the river mouth is now placed, have no right to impose the restrictions and that the Arawa people are the sole administrators of the area. Fqr many years the Kaituna River mouth has been a prolific whitebaiting ground, and local Maori fishermen have made their living there during the season.. The new Order-in-Council will restrict the number of stands to one per person, as well as the length and breadth of each stand. The allocation of the stands will be made by the Marine

Department which will presumably also decide who will occupy the stands.

At a meeting of the Arawa Trust Board last' week it was decided that a conference of all concerned should be held at Maketu with a view to drawing up a petition to be presented to the House. The' Maori people owned the river, it was claimed, and its control should rest with the Maori people, and not with a department. The Board agreed on the general principles of the new law, stated the secretary of the Board, Mr T. K. Thompson. There were cases where one or two fishermen had more stands than they were entitled to, and were thus forcing other fishermen to take less profitable stands. This was an anomaly which should be wiped out, he said. The Board was not questioning the steps the department was taking to distribute the stands'more equitably, nor their effoi't to ensure that only legitimate fishermen be granted permits.