Identifying traditional whitebait stands in the lower Waikato River – a joint spatial analysis project
Report: TR 2013/18
Author: Brendan Morris, Brendan Morris Consulting Ltd
Co-Authors: Cheri van Schravendijk-Goodman, Julian Williams, Waikato Raupatu River Trust and Gannin Ormsby, Waikato Regional Council
Abstract
Waikato-Tainui and Waikato Regional Council undertook a joint spatial analysis project to identify and map traditional whitebait stands within the lower Waikato River. Waikato-Tainui’s primary interests are the protection of customary access to the fishery and the restoration of freshwater habitats for taonga species. While the Waikato Regional Council has multiple interests in river and catchment management in the lower Waikato River, the immediate driver for Council participating in this project is the need to meet its obligations under s. 62 of the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010.
| Contents | ||
| Executive summary | vii | |
| 1 | Waikato-Tainui and Waikato Regional Council perspectives | 1 |
| 1.1 | Waikato-Tainui | 1 |
| 1.2 | Waikato Regional Council (WRC) | 1 |
| 1.2.1 | Relationship with Waikato-Tainui | 1 |
| 1.2.2 | Whitebait stands | 1 |
| 2 | Rationale for collaboration | 3 |
| 2.1 | Waikato-Tainui | 3 |
| 2.2 | Waikato Regional Council | 3 |
| 3 | Background | 4 |
| 3.1 | Lower Waikato River whitebait fishery | 4 |
| 3.1.1 | A traditional, historical perspective | 4 |
| 3.1.2 | Overview of the whitebait fishery | 5 |
| 3.2 | Legislative and regulatory context | 7 |
| 3.2.1 | Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010 | 7 |
| 3.2.2 | Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) | 9 |
| 3.2.3 | Conservation Act 1987 | 10 |
| 3.2.4 | Related legislation/regulations | 10 |
| 3.3 | Lead-up to this project | 10 |
| 4 | Project framework and participants | 12 |
| 4.1 | Project framework | 12 |
| 4.2 | Project participant roles and responsibilities | 13 |
| 4.2.1 | Project partners | 13 |
| 4.2.2 | Participating agencies | 13 |
| 4.3 | Relationship of participants to whitebait stand management and related issues | 14 |
| 5 | Purpose of the project | 15 |
| 6 | Scope | 15 |
| 7 | Methodology | 17 |
| 7.1 | Objectives | 17 |
| 7.2 | Initial data gathering | 17 |
| 7.3 | Detailed data gathering | 18 |
| 7.4 | Limitations | 18 |
| 7.4.1 | Time and budget constraints | 18 |
| 7.4.2 | Tidal ebb and flow and river currents | 18 |
| 7.4.3 | Spatially inaccurate RUAMS data | 19 |
| 7.4.4 | Customary fishing areas – historical vs. contemporary context | 19 |
| 8 | Findings | 19 |
| 8.1 | Total whitebait stands and location | 19 |
| 8.2 | Sites of significance to Waikato-Tainui | 19 |
| 8.3 | Whitebait stands | 19 |
| 8.3.1 | Ownership | 19 |
| 8.3.2 | Associated structures (baches) | 20 |
| 8.3.3 | Compliance totals | 21 |
| 8.3.4 | Whitebait stands and the Resource Use Authorisation Management System (RUAMS) | 22 |
| 8.4 | Issues identified | 23 |
| 8.4.1 | Whitebait stand compliance issues | 23 |
| 8.4.2 | Health and safety issues | 26 |
| 8.4.3 | Discharges to waterways | 28 |
| 8.4.4 | Whitebait fishery management | 28 |
| 8.4.5 | Definition of whitebait stands | 29 |
| 9 | Opportunities/next steps | 30 |
| References | 31 | |
| Appendix 1: | Waikato Regional Plan and Regional Coastal Plan excerpts | 32 |
| Waikato Regional Plan | 32 | |
| Regional Coastal Plan | 33 | |
| Appendix 2: | Ownership detailed maps | 35 |
| Appendix 3: | Baches detailed maps | 39 |
| Appendix 4: | Compliance detailed maps | 43 |