Row erupts over cockle harvest

A war of words has erupted over cockle harvesting in Otago Harbour, with claims and counterclaims concerning research which concluded the fishery is not sustainable.

On one side is the Otakou runanga, the driver of a mataitai for Otago Harbour, and on the other, Southern Clams, which recently began commercially harvesting clams from the harbour.

A mataitai, if approved by the Minister of Fisheries, would prevent commercial fishing in Otago Harbour.

In July, the ministry approved a special research permit, lodged a year before the mataitai application, allowing Southern Clams to fish commercially on the middle banks of the harbour.

The company began harvesting cockles in mid-September, prompting Otakou runanga customary fisheries manager Hoani Langsbury to liken the practice to Japanese whaling.

Fuelling the tension between the groups is research by a former University of Otago PhD marine science student, Craig Irwin, concluding the commercial harvesting of cockles appeared unsustainable.

Mr Langsbury said Mr Irwin's research supported what "we know anecdotally - the harvesting of cockles (tuaki) in Otago Harbour is unsustainable".

He said the harbour had been closed to commercial fishing for three decades and it was disappointing to see cockles taken from the middle banks being exported overseas under the guise of research.

Despite Southern Clams knowing about the research - which it funded - the company chose not to pass on the findings to the ministry or consultants employed to research the fishery stock, Mr Langsbury said.

Southern Clams director Roger Belton confirmed the company commissioned and paid for the research but rejected claims it did not pass the research on to interested parties.

"We pass on research to anyone who wants it."Mr Belton said he did not have a problem with most of the research findings, but its conclusions were"erroneous".

The research was conducted at a time when cockle numbers were low, and further research was under way as part of the five-year research permit, which entitled the company to 650 tonnes a year.

The company's livelihood depended on the sustainability of the fishery and more information was required to reach an appropriate conclusion - a point backed up by the research, he said.

Efforts to contact Mr Irwin overseas were unsuccessful.

However, Dr John Jillett, a former associate professor at the university and the internal examiner of Mr Irwin's 2004 thesis, said the research was "comprehensive on the question of the effects of harvesting on cockle population".