The hapū that sparked the shellfish rāhui along much of the Taranaki coast want a legal ban on gathering kaimoana for two years or more.
Pākehā Lynley Johnson (left) hand-painted a sign for the Rāhui at Bayly Road and hands out brochures with Katerina Finnigan. Photo: LDR / Craig Ashworth
The rāhui was placed by the 10 hapū of Ōrimupiko marae near Ōpunakē in January, and has since spread to cover more than 40 kilometres of coastline to the north.
Now hapū of marae pā along the coast are considering applying for a legal closure of the area under section 186 of the Fisheries Act.
The rāhui ends on 31 July, but marae kaitiaki Jack Davey said the Ōrimupiko hapū had already decided to make a legal bid for protection, especially of pāua.
"The only way we're going to stop this is by putting a section 186 [application] through."
A Fisheries Act ban on taking shellfish could last up to two years and could then be extended.
"We are looking for that full term. I've got a feeling it could take even longer in some places along the coast."
Davey said reefs near coastal road ends and public beaches are exhausted but areas where access is limited could be nurseries for recovery of pāua, kina and other kaimoana.
"Our next step is to have a look at which areas have been exhausted, and after two years we might be able to say only particular areas need to be put back under protection."
Davey said most people are respecting the tikanga-based ban, and as kaitiaki he was not issuing any customary gathering permits, even for tangihanga and kaumātua birthdays.
Broad public support is needed for a section 186 approval, and Davey said a community meeting late last year drew strong Pākehā backing, with farmers already closing off access through their land.
Support for a legal ban is also coming from beyond Taranaki iwi.
More coastal access is being closed to protect kaimoana. Photo: LDR / Craig Ashworth
In neighbouring Ngāruahine iwi, Ngāti Hāua hapū placed a rāhui last July along 7km of coast, from Wahamoko Stream near Oeo to Ōtakeho Stream.
Ngāti Hāua kaitiaki Sid Ngātai said they now want a Fisheries Act ban to bolster the rāhui.
"What is hard is it's lore not law, and people know that we really don't have a leg to stand on with this kaupapa, legally.
"Iwi need to start shutting it down with the assistance of the Crown - shut it down for two years at least."
Ngātai said at recent meetings more Ngāruahine hapū were coming to the same conclusion.
Farmers he went to school with had backed the Ngāti Hāua rāhui by locking their gates.
"Local Pākehā around here, they know the kōrero and they don't go down there [for kaimoana]."
He said Ngāti Hāua had not had the carloads of Asian shellfish gatherers seen around the coast, but many were coming from Whanganui for more than personal kai.
"Black market in pāua has got a lot to do with this; there's a lot of our people that are not getting kai for the right reason but more for the monetary value."
It is illegal for amateur gatherers to sell or trade pāua.
Ngātai last weekend visited Arawhata Road and wants to replicate Taranaki iwi's patrols.
Kaitiaki including Lisa Ison (right) are patrolling with backing from Te Kāhui o Taranaki. Photo: LDR / Craig Ashworth
Lisa Ison of Ngāti Tara hapū is a volunteer keeping an eye on the reefs from her farm on Mānihi Road, wearing a hi-viz vest marking her as a "kaitiaki o te moana."
She talks to surfers and recreational fishers, recruiting them with pamphlets printed by Te Kāhui o Taranaki iwi.
"We've got 40-plus volunteers in messenger groups, I've got farmers from here right through to Tīpoka Road."
"If they see 50 cars down a road then they text and we get people out there, to give out some brochures and talk about why we're doing what we're doing."
Ison said nine out of 10 people understood everyone suffered as the kaimoana is pillaged.
"I had four elderly people, Pākehā in their 70s, they came down Mānihi one day; they were out for like an hour and they left with one pāua between them."
"They couldn't find any and they've been coming to Mānihi for 30-plus years. They were distraught, they were angry."
Further north near Cape Egmont, Taranaki iwi's signage is not yet in place so Lynley Johnson, herself Pākehā, painted one for the end of Bayly Road in support of the rāhui.
She recently moved there and has been collecting kaimoana from the coast for 20 years with her husband, who grew up locally.
"We were getting 60-odd cars down here, busloads of people taking their limit - you get 40 people on a bus that's 400 pāua gone."
"So as locals and as a community we need to protect it."
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air