Appeal to respect bay’s mussel ban

ABay of Island kauma¯ tua is urging Northlanders to respect a ban on taking mussels to make sure their grandchildren don’t miss out on the shellfish in years to come.

Since March 23 it has been illegal to take green-lipped, blue or black mussels from the Te Puna Ma¯ taitai reserve, an area between Purerua Peninsula and Moturoa Island, in the northern Bay of Islands. The reserve includes Cape Wiwiki, the Te Pahi islands, and, crucially, the Black Rocks, a series of distinctive rocky islets once famous for the size and number of their mussels.

In recent years however, the mussels have declined dramatically, prompting local hapu¯ and Fisheries New Zealand to intervene.

The ra¯ hui, established for an initial three years, and legally enforceable, bans commercial fishing of any sort within the reserve.

Kauma¯ tua Hugh Rihari, chairman of Te Komiti Kaitiaki Whakature i nga¯ Taonga o Tangaroa, said ku¯ tai at the Black Rocks had been declining for a long time, but concerns had escalated in the past two years. Now, three months after the ban was imposed, he was still getting complaints about people gathering mussels inside the reserve.

Rihari suspected some didn’t know about the ban, while others were deliberately ignoring it. Some felt they had a right to take the shellfish because of their strong cultural connections to the area.

However, the ra¯ hui applied to everyone, even though it wasn’t always easy. Marae, for example, used to rely on mussels from the area to feed their guests.

After three years scientists would re-assess the health of the mussel population, and, if necessary, the ra¯ hui would be rolled over for another three years.

‘‘We need to make sure we have mussels for our grandchildren. The only way we can do that is by not contravening the ra¯ hui. We need to give the ku¯ tai a rest and a chance to grow back,” he said.

Marine conservation group Fish Forever has distributed signs and pamphlets to all boat ramps and marinas in the area, member Dean Wright saying the ra¯ hui at Maunganui Bay/Deep Water Cove, which was also legally enforceable, had shown it could take a long time for word to get through to everyone.

Photo / Peter de Graaf Go to tepunamataitai.nz for a map with the reserve’s boundaries and GPS coordinates, plus a study by marine scientist John Booth examining the mussels’ decline. The causes are believed to include water quality, shellfish disease and harvesting pressure. Dean Wright (Fish Forever, left) and Te Komiti Kaitiaki chairman Hugh Rihari are urging Northlanders to respect a three-year ban on gathering mussels in part of the northern Bay of Islands.

Photo / Stephen Western The Black Rocks, off Moturoa Island, have long been a popular mussel gathering site.