This section includes issues and policies related to the realm of Tangaroa, the atua of the sea. In the Ngāi Tahu tradition, Tangaroa was the first husband of Papatūānuku.
As emphasized in the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement (2010), tāngata whenua have a traditional and continuing cultural relationship with areas of the coastal environment, including places where we have fished and lived for generations. The association of Ngāi Tahu to the Canterbury coast is acknowledged in the NTCSA 1998, whereby Te Tai o Mahaanui (the Selwyn Banks Peninsula Coastal Marine Area) and Te Tai o Marokura (the Kaikōura Coastal Marine Area) are recognised as coastal statutory acknowledgements (see Appendix 1 for a map). Te Tai o Mahaanui is also source of the name for this IMP, acknowledging the coastal waters and tides that unite the six Papatipu Rūnanga.
The RMA 1991 provides protection for the coastal environment and the relationship of Ngāi Tahu to it as a matter of national importance:
- Section 6 (a): The preservation and protection of the natural character of the coastal environment (including the coastal marine area), wetlands, and lakes and rivers and their margins;
- Section 6 (b): Protection of outstanding natural features and landscapes;
- Section 6 (e): the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, water, sites, wāhi tapu, and other taonga; and
- Section 6 (f): Protection of historic heritage.
Ngā Paetae Objectives
(1) There is a diversity and abundance of mahinga kai in coastal areas, the resources are fit for cultural use, and tāngata whenua have unhindered access to them.
(2) The role of tāngata whenua as kaitiaki of the coastal environment and sea is recognised and provided for in coastal and marine management.
(3) Discharges to the coastal marine area and the sea are eliminated, and the land practices that contribute to diffuse (non-point source) pollution of the coast and sea are discontinued or altered.
(4) Traditional and contemporary mahinga kai sites and species within the coastal environment, and access to those sites and species, are protected and enhanced.
(5) Mahinga kai have unhindered access between rivers, coastal wetlands, hāpua and the sea.
(6) The wāhi taonga status of coastal wetlands, hāpua and estuaries is recognised and provided for.
(7) The marine environment is protected by way of tikanga-based management of fisheries.
(8) Coastal cultural landscapes and seascapes are protected from inappropriate use and development.