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Story: Law of the foreshore and seabed

Settlers fishing

Image
Settlers fishing

This watercolour by Charles Barraud, ‘Coromandel Harbour, September 15 1874’, shows two figures fishing, one from a boat. People assumed that Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed provided for public rights of fishing and navigation.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: B-004-013

by Charles Decimus Barraud

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Mark Hickford, Law of the foreshore and seabed – The English legal tradition, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/8525/settlers-fishing (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Mark Hickford, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 January 2015.