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October 01, 2012
Ngati Koata protest salmon farms in Marlborough Sounds
Waatea Team
Posted On October 1, 2012
About 30 boats took to the water on Saturday to protest plans to build up to nine new marine farms in the Marlborough Sounds.
The plan by New Zealand King Salmon, which is majority owned by a Malaysian investment company, has divided top of the south iwi.
Te Atiawa runanga has agreed to back the bid in exchange for membership on bodies set up to manage the environmental risks, but Ngati Koata says those risks are too great.
Representative Roma Hippolite told the Environmental Protection Authority the five farms planned for Pelorus Sound could affect his iwi’s ability to gather the kaimoana they needed to provide for their visitors.
The farms could also threaten breeding and feeding grounds of king shags, which were a taonga for Ngati Koata because of their connections back to the explorer Kupe.
A captain in Kupe's waka had a pet shag which turned to stone and became the reef at French Pass near d'Urville Island.
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