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Te Weehi v Regional Fisheries Officer (1986) 1 N.Z.L.R. 682 |
| Category: | Case Law | |
| Sub Category: | Case Law |
| Place: | |
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| State/Country: | Aotearoa - New Zealand |
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| Subject Matter: | Recognition of Traditional Rights and Interests |
| Summary Information: | |
| In Te Weehi v Regional Fisheries Officer, 'Te Weehi was charged with possessing undersized paua, contrary to the Fishing (Amateur Fishing) Regulations 1983. Section 88(2) of that Act provides that nothing in it shall affect 'Maori fishing rights.' Thus, as a defence, Te Weehi argued that he was taking shellfish in the customary Maori way for personal and family consumption. The shellfish were taken for immediate eating, and only on a small scale and that prior to collecting the paua he had obtained permission from a local Maori elder. Extensive evidence showed that there was a customary right for particular Maori to collect limited quantities of shellfish from beaches over which their tribe, or a tribe from which they had permission (as here) had control. Te Weehi successfully argued that the words of s 88 included not only rights to take fish embodied in other statutes, but also rights derived from the common law, including aboriginal title.' (Dorsett and Godden, 98). |
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