This 1843 watercolour, by an unknown artist, depicts Māori drying fish on poles. The fish appear to be mainly barracouta, with a few rays and snapper. Māori were not preservationists; they conserved resources so that they could use them in the future. Fishing pressure may have affected fish stocks in localised areas. Fishing was mostly done close to shore and in harbours and estuaries, but waka (canoes) also ventured more than 16 kilometres offshore to fishing grounds for species such as hāpuku. Māori had a complex system for managing fisheries, with restrictions on what they could catch, and other rules. Listen to a Ngāti Toa elder explain how his tribe and others bartered and gifted different kai moana (seafood).
Transcript
When you manaaki your visitors when they grace your table, they're given those things that you have, mostly of and that's in your cupboard and many of Ngāti Toa people that live alongside the sea, gave to their manuhiri, all those things that the sea had in their areas: fish, pāua, kina, musssels. And those that had tuatua gave tuatua. And that was more expected thing that when people arrived on your marae you gave them the food out of your cupboard and of course the cupboard we were taught was the kaimoana that we had on our coast. Now we were taught also that when we go to visit other people, we take with us those food that we can get and have access to our kaimoana as a koha and this is the reason why the bartering between our people were ever in a day it was custom that we did those sorta things.
Using this item
Reference: 18112
Artwork: Alexander Turnbull Library, C-030-019
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