The mātaitai application areas. The green is the current Te Kaio Mātaitai Reserve, the yellow represents its extension. The red is the proposed Māhērua Mātaitai area.

A Banks Peninsula rūnanga is looking to limit commercial fishing in two reserves between Birdlings Flat and Akaroa Harbour.

Wairewa Rūnanga has made two submissions to the Ministry for Primary Industries to extend the Te Kaio Mātaitai Reserve and establish Māhērua Reserve as a mātaitai.

Mātaitai is a fishing regulation that recognises and provides for traditional fishing through local management. It allows customary and recreational fishing, but typically does not allow commercial fishing.

Wairewa Rūnanga chair Matiu Prebble said there was concern over the increased amount of commercial fishing in the Southern Bays. Prebble referred Bay Harbour News to MPI for the data. MPI said it was not readily available. Bay Harbour News is now seeking the data through the Official Information Act.

Prebble said the rūnanga was also concerned about marine habitats around the peninsula after conducting assessments with Environment Canterbury and the Department of Conservation.

“The main outcomes that are hoped for is a reduction in fishing pressures on a number of different species that are known to be important, principally for the rūnanga but for recreational fishers as well,” he said.

Wairewa Rūnanga plan to restrict commercial fishing in two reserves in the Southern Bays of Banks Peninsula.

It has requested 0.85sq km of waters in Oashore Bay, Tokoroa Bay, Hikuraki Bay and Magnet Bay to be included in the existing Te Kaio Mātaitai Reserve.

The Māhērua Mātaitai Reserve would cover about 39sq km between Te Kaio Mātaitai Reserve, at Tumbledown Bay, and Akaroa Harbour.

Mātaitai generally ban all commercial fishing, but the runanga’s applications outline exceptions.

Both will allow commercial vessels to anchor and the processing of fish caught outside the mātaitai.

Māhērua Mātaitai Reserve would allow for the taking of crayfish and pāua, while Te Kaio only allows for pāua.

There were two community consultation meetings in Little River and Birdlings Flat on the applications last month.

Matiu Prebble

Prebble said many people were misinformed that the mātaitai reserves would have an impact on recreational fishing.

“We are currently sending out a public notice addressing a lot of the different questions that we’ve received from those community meetings,” he said.

“We are wanting to engage in further meetings to clarify and just to continue that process of really informing the broader community about the mātaitai and our application.”

The MPI had received 76 submissions on the two mātaitai applications as of 2pm Tuesday.

Submissions close tomorrow at 5pm. Fisheries New Zealand will hold a second consultation, inviting written submissions from people whose ability to take aquatic life will be affected by the proposed reserves.