Paua to the People campaign in full swing
Update - April 5th, 2013
Paua to
the People campaign in full swing
In
the last fortnight, the Paua to the People community group
has become a 1700-strong army of passionate volunteers who
oppose the Paua industry's push to harvest, and likely
decimate, some of New Zealand’s best recreational and
customary paua fisheries.
At the centre
of the issue is a Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI)
proposal to open up 25km of Otago and Southland coastline to
the commercial paua industry.
Former
All Black and Paua to the People spokeperson Kees Meeuws
says “New Zealanders love Paua. Hundreds of people from
coastal communities between Dunedin and Bluff are standing
up and have already made a huge
difference.”
Mr. Meeuws goes onto say
“An overwhelming majority of the 70-odd who turned up at
last night’s Bluff community meeting were oppposed. The
fact that most showed up with less than 24 hours notice
demonstrates their shock at what the government is
proposing”. This was the group’s third community meeting
over the past fortnight which have attracted over 200
people.
The Paua to the People
(www.pauatothepeople.org.nz) website is the central rallying
point for the multi-pronged campaign. Lloyd McGinty,
co-founder of Paua to the People says “In less than a week
over 200 people have sent a submission online to MPI
opposing the proposal. Its not just online - we’ve had
community meetings up and down the coast and all of St.
Clair was even postered yesterday. We’re working hard to
channel the massive energy of our fast growing
community.”
Mr. McGinty further
explains “We are worried that greed is pushing this
proposal, and we believe the paua industry are about
economic gain for a few, regardless of the huge loss for the
community and the environment. We are concerned about the
future of our coastlines.”
Paua to
the People invites more people to go to the campaign website
and Facebook page
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/pauatothepeople/) and make
certain this proposal is shut down. There is detailed
information about the proposal as well as links to copies of
the MPI’s proposal and other relevant
information.
Mr. Meeuws urges,
“Don’t be a passive supporter, every little bit counts.
Stand up and speak, lots of people are already listening. If
you don’t, we may not get another chance. Please go online
or get out on the street and make a difference.”
ends