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Download AudioCelebrity speaker and professional director Ngahihioterangi Bidois has become the first person of Te Arawa descent to chair the Eastern Bay of Plenty Fish and Game Council.
The Ngongotaha native says he learned to fish for trout and row a boat before he could ride a bike.
He sees the role as a chance to look after Papatūānuku and the environment, and being elected unanimously by his fellow board members was a sign of changing times.
“Not only fish and game but a lot of organisations that are in business and in the environmental space are looking to us as Māori for that knowledge and for that leadership and guidance in the areas of looking after the environment,” Mr Bidois says.
He says for Te Arawa, having a trout on the marae table is similar to having a crayfish in the table on an East Coast marae.
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