For the first time in its history, the Bluff Oyster and Food Festival organisers are being asked to shell out for the oysters used as giveaways and prizes.
In past years, oysters have been gathered under iwi customary permits and donated to festival organisers.
But festival committee chairman John Edminstin said following a complaint about that process, local iwi representatives had decided not to issue a permit this year.
That meant the committee would have to buy oysters at a cost of $5000.
The decision had been made only days ago, giving festival organisers little choice but to pay up so the festival could go ahead on Saturday as planned, he said.
Mr Edminstin said festival profits would be hit.
''It's a shame. That's $5000 that won't be going to the Bluff community.''
Under customary fishing regulations, kaimoana (seafood) can be gathered for purposes including koha (gifts), gatherings and tangi (funeral services) as long as they are not sold. Customary permits can be issued to anyone and it is up to local iwi representatives to decide whether to issue a permit.
Ministry of Primary Industries Southland compliance manager Reece Murphy said it had not received the complaint but had been asked by iwi to clarify the rules.
Its opinion, forwarded to the festival committee late last week, was that the definition of ''sale'' was very wide and covered any commercial activity.
''Because the festival is a commercial activity, using seafood gathered by customary authorisation for any activities within it [such as giveaways and prizes] falls within the definition of `sale for commercial activity','' he said.
Hana Morgan, of Invercargill, an iwi representative empowered to grant customary authorisation, said the ministry's opinion was clear.
It was not possible to give customary authorisation ''because they charge people to go in'' to the festival, she said.
Even if festival organisers were giving away the oysters, there was still an element of pecuniary advantage, however indirect. The committee should not have been caught by surprise, she said, as talks had been ongoing for weeks.
Mrs Morgan said customary authorisation was primarily to be used for iwi purposes.
She said the festival committee might have been granted permits in the past but there was no guarantee they would always be given them.
''Local oyster merchants could all donate a sack instead.''
Mr Edminstin still expected a small profit to be made from this year's festival. He hoped the issue could be resolved in time for next year's festival.
More than 3000 tickets had been sold for the festival and last-minute sales were expected to push the number up to 5000.
- Lori Dale of the Southland Express.
