Should the Marlborough Sound be turned into a marine reserve? The Elkington whanau living on D'Urville Island, which is 100 km north of Nelson, says no. And as they told Wepiha Te Kanawa, if the Government's proposal goes ahead, the whanau claims they may have to leave the island they've lived on for generations.
Lindsay Elkington owns a small commercial fishing business. He caught 18 tonnes of blue cod last year on hand lines.
“Commercial fishing is really the back bone of our income here, it's what we rely upon, and it's what we know we can make a living from,” says Elkington.
D'Urville island has 52 permanent residents, so jobs here a very cut throat. It's not just fishing, Elkington also uses his boat as a water taxi, just one of two on the island. His tupuna Wetekia Ruruku Elkington is one of the six generations of Elkington's who have worked the waters around d'Urville Island.
“She raised her family here which is my dad and her siblings, she lived for a while in the next bay around, where we are now this was all a part of her property, her land.”
But a plan to turn the Marlborough sSounds into a Marine Protection Park could force them off their land, and waters. And commercial fishers like Elkington will be banned from catching in this area.
“The bottom line for us is if it goes ahead in its current form we are finished, we'll be packing our bags, locking up our houses.”