Tauranga city authorities might be musing on whether they should have tried a rahui to keep people off Mount Maunganui beach and Moturiki Island at the weekend
They proclaimed a “keep away” notice, when four-metre swells hit Mount Maunganui as a result of the underwater volcanic eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai near Tonga and Tropical Cyclone Cody.
“This closure is to ensure public safety. Warning signs advising of the closure are in place.” a representative said.
But warning signs (it seems) are for sissies.
PoO noted a media statement in which the Tauranga City Council said it was extremely concerned by reports of people breaching the closure of Moturiki Island.
Emergency Operations Center Controller Gareth Wallis says this behaviour is putting lives at serious risk.
“Cyclone Vaianu is a potentially lifethreatening weather event. Coastal and harbour conditions can change rapidly as the cyclone approaches, making Moturiki Island (Leisure Island) a dangerous place to be.
“We are urging anyone on Moturiki Island to leave immediately and to stay away from coastal and exposed areas.”
And:
“This is not the time for sightseeing or risktaking. Closures are in place to protect lives and must be respected,” Gareth adds.
At first blush, if risk-takers want to defy the elements, then why not leave them to it?
The response from the council, of course, would be that if risk-takers need rescuing, the lives of their rescuers may well be put at risk.
Perhaps the deal should be: if you want to ignore the warning signs, go right ahead, but if you get into trouble…
Well, in that case you are on your own. Don’t bother rescue authorities with a cry for help.
Whether Maori customs and spiritualism would be more effective is a moot point.
Just a few months ago a rāhui was placed over key coastal and harbour areas around Mount Maunganui.
But there was a difference between then and now. The rahui was intended not to protect people but to allow the natural replenishment of seafood species.
Tauranga Moana Iwi Customary Fisheries Trust took the action after low population numbers were recorded for pāua (black and yellow-foot abalone), kūtai (green-lipped mussels) and kōura (crayfish).
The trust called on fishers to stop gathering the depleted species to allow stocks time to rest and regenerate.
The rāhui was to remain in place while the trust developed mātaitai reserve bylaws, or until the trust and local elders determined the stocks had sufficiently recovered.
A mātaitai reserve is an area closed to commercial fishing that may have bylaws affecting recreational and customary fishing.
“Our goal is to build the population up and let those brood stock grow bigger so that they can reproduce more for future years,” Ellis said.
“We acknowledge the support of the wider community and respectfully ask all fishers, customary, recreational and commercial, to honour the rāhui and uphold the intentions behind it.”
Ellis said the rāhui was a transition period to enable people to get used to not taking the seafood until it became enforceable.
PoO does not know how effective this was.
But Fisheries New Zealand director of fisheries management Emma Taylor said, under tikanga Māori, a rāhui was respected and adherence to them was voluntary and generally well supported.
Fisheries New Zealand at that time – a fortnight before Christmas – had not yet received an application for a temporary closure to support the rāhui.
To provide statutory support, tangata whenua can request the Oceans and Fisheries Minister impose a temporary closure to prohibit all recreational and commercial fishing.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
“This closure is to ensure public safety. Warning signs advising of the closure are in place.” a representative said.
But warning signs (it seems) are for sissies.
PoO noted a media statement in which the Tauranga City Council said it was extremely concerned by reports of people breaching the closure of Moturiki Island.
Emergency Operations Center Controller Gareth Wallis says this behaviour is putting lives at serious risk.
“Cyclone Vaianu is a potentially lifethreatening weather event. Coastal and harbour conditions can change rapidly as the cyclone approaches, making Moturiki Island (Leisure Island) a dangerous place to be.
“We are urging anyone on Moturiki Island to leave immediately and to stay away from coastal and exposed areas.”
And:
“This is not the time for sightseeing or risktaking. Closures are in place to protect lives and must be respected,” Gareth adds.
At first blush, if risk-takers want to defy the elements, then why not leave them to it?
The response from the council, of course, would be that if risk-takers need rescuing, the lives of their rescuers may well be put at risk.
Perhaps the deal should be: if you want to ignore the warning signs, go right ahead, but if you get into trouble…
Well, in that case you are on your own. Don’t bother rescue authorities with a cry for help.
Whether Maori customs and spiritualism would be more effective is a moot point.
Just a few months ago a rāhui was placed over key coastal and harbour areas around Mount Maunganui.
But there was a difference between then and now. The rahui was intended not to protect people but to allow the natural replenishment of seafood species.
Tauranga Moana Iwi Customary Fisheries Trust took the action after low population numbers were recorded for pāua (black and yellow-foot abalone), kūtai (green-lipped mussels) and kōura (crayfish).
The trust called on fishers to stop gathering the depleted species to allow stocks time to rest and regenerate.
The rāhui was to remain in place while the trust developed mātaitai reserve bylaws, or until the trust and local elders determined the stocks had sufficiently recovered.
A mātaitai reserve is an area closed to commercial fishing that may have bylaws affecting recreational and customary fishing.
“Our goal is to build the population up and let those brood stock grow bigger so that they can reproduce more for future years,” Ellis said.
“We acknowledge the support of the wider community and respectfully ask all fishers, customary, recreational and commercial, to honour the rāhui and uphold the intentions behind it.”
Ellis said the rāhui was a transition period to enable people to get used to not taking the seafood until it became enforceable.
PoO does not know how effective this was.
But Fisheries New Zealand director of fisheries management Emma Taylor said, under tikanga Māori, a rāhui was respected and adherence to them was voluntary and generally well supported.
Fisheries New Zealand at that time – a fortnight before Christmas – had not yet received an application for a temporary closure to support the rāhui.
To provide statutory support, tangata whenua can request the Oceans and Fisheries Minister impose a temporary closure to prohibit all recreational and commercial fishing.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
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