Where they grow snails

Where they grow snails

Ōhiwa Oyster Farm has been operating in the Bay of Plenty for 55 years. As of last week, it is entirely Māori.

East of Whakatāne is perhaps one of the country’s most famous harbours: Ōhiwa. The traditional names of the port, Te kite kai a Tairongo and Te umu tao noa a Tairongo, reflect the abundance of food in its shallow and warm waters. Although stock depletion, environmental degradation and centuries of government regulation have created obstacles, the port has become an important source of kai for hapū and iwi.

Along the coast is Ōhiwa Oyster Farm, a Pacific oyster farm and shop that has been around for 55 years. Last week Wini Geddes (Ngāti Awa, Ngaitai ki Tōrere) and her whānau took over – and she believes it makes the business being the only Māori oyster farm in Aotearoa.

I spoke to Geddes about his connection with tio (oyster) from Ōhiwa, how the farm is developing the art of rangatahi, and why the purchase is an effort to restore the past for the future.

Oysters, bread and tea at Te Hiku o te Ika marae, Te Hāpua, 1977 (Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1629-05-07).

Charlotte Muru-Lanning: How did the purchase come about?

Wini Geddes: My husband and my day job is training, qualifying and using rangatahi for independent work. This is mainly in primary industries, forestry and agriculture, but also includes fisheries. I had five Māori business training cadetships and I couldn’t put them anywhere because all the farms were full.

After a while, the broker called me to see if we were interested in the farm. At first I asked them to go back to iwi but they said they didn’t want to. So we’ve been discussing this, and planning ways to achieve this for the last 10 months with the help of [lender] Orange Network. It just made sense. If I can’t put these marine life lessons in, let’s buy our own farm and put them in there. And it happened when we took office last week.

When you buy an oyster farm, what are you buying?

We have four acres with the potential to grow. You are buying the business itself, access to local and foreign markets, a license to manage and grow oysters for sale. Not many oyster farms have a shop like this one, with an oyster shop and a shop. It’s got the best fish and chips, the best batter you’ll find and it’s just carrying on the best since it’s been here. It’s a painting.

What is your relationship with Ōhiwa oysters?

I grew up near Te Teko, where I live in Ōhiwa – maybe 45 minutes by car. Every year we would come here in the summer, for a few months, to be with my extended whānau and only take a kai from Ōhiwa harbor to come back for the winter. It all came to a halt when the fishery was cut off from commercial fishing licenses and then when the Quota Management System came in and we were banned from collecting certain kai. And then as a family, we all grew up and left.

Waiaio, Ngamotu, Te Ipo Ihimairangi and Wini Geddes with their new logo. (Photo: Provided)

Do you know of any other Māori owned oyster farms?

Not 100% Maori owned. There may be some relationships with those that are sponsored by the government. As far as I know, this is the only 100% it has.

Do you see this as a form of revenge?

Absolutely. It encourages whānau to dream again. I went to the training hui last week, and everyone knew that I have this oyster farm. A few came to me and said, “Whaea, we have an oyster farm out here, and we want it back, we want our people and our rangatahi to learn too.” If I can do it, we can all do it.

This farm has been open since 1968. Do you know much about its history?

From the moment we bought it we heard little things from people. But going back we have a lot of Māori history around here – Tauwhare Pā is up here and down the road is where Te Kooti settled in Wainui. So we have a lot of important old places.

How do you harvest snails?

It’s like going to pick grapes from the vines, but you just go out with your grapes on a wheelbarrow to the place where the oysters grow. We have boats that you can put tires in or put yourself in to get out if the tide isn’t completely gone. They then come to our small oyster processing plants on site and are washed and cleaned and processed and sold or stored. We don’t get a chance to really keep it because it’s just for sale.

Preparing oysters. (Photo: Provided)

What is the best way to eat oysters?

Only raw is lemon juice.

So you’ve been monitoring for just over a week – has anything changed in that time?

There is a lot of work to be done. One of the biggest changes we’ve made is that we’ve changed the business name to Tio Ōhiwa. There is a new logo with hooks that represent Māui fishing in the North Island. It is in the oyster and the oyster is in the form of a port.

The beds used to store and grow oysters at the farm have been destroyed. They must be replaced and restored. Naturally, it can be useful for them because you have decaying wood that is not good. It will also increase overall production, which is currently at 10% and which equates to a million oysters per year.

So it can produce up to 10 million oysters a year?

Yes, that is a possibility.

What does taking this mean to you?

It’s a bit of a retirement plan. Oysters grow, they don’t need any help to grow. You just need someone to harvest it and make it into what it really is. There are succession plans, because I have my son Ngamotu who has left Auckland and is looking after me. He was a stay-at-home dad while his wife, my daughter-in-law, was training to be a doctor. My two Makos come down at the weekend. It’s good that they’re back because I can see them growing up again. My son talked to the previous owner to learn about the business, how to run an oyster farm, and how to take care of them. We know how to eat them often but taking care of them and making them go is something else.

What does this mean for your people?

From tuhu in karakia yuma yinahituhu, twadiña nakukeña kawumu kaumātua from kudi karakia. + But 20 arrived, and each army was represented. There are 23 hapū in Ngāti Awa and their ownership has returned to Ngāti Awa. This has been going on for a long time, this is the first and the most important thing.

#grow #snails

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