Story: Estuaries

The Kaituna River runs from Lake Rotorua to Maketū estuary in the Bay of Plenty. It is a traditional eeling and whitebaiting river of the Ngāti Pikiao people (Te Arawa tribe). This picture from 1931 shows a local whitebaiter in action. In 1978, six members of the tribe took a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal objecting to a scheme that would pipe effluent from Rotorua into the river and out to Maketū estuary. The claimants argued that the proposed scheme would pollute their food-gathering areas. In 1984 the tribunal found in favour of the claimants and the Crown withdrew support for the pipeline scheme.