The Ministry of Fisheries' Executive Team were present and Chief Executive Warwick Tuck welcomed the new officers to the Ministry. The Officers had been issued with their warrants the day before at Whakarongotai, returning to the marae where their training had begun in September. Gail Thompson, one of five Kai Arahi employed by the Ngai Tahu Development Corporation under a customary compliance contract with Crown, also attended the first six weeks of the course. Gail is based in Invercargill. Tom Teniti and Madeleine DuPont, both Fishery Officers previously stationed in Auckland, have taken up new positions in Opotiki as part of the customary intiative.
Further positions are to be established throughout the remainder of the North Island.
Tini a Tangaroa. If the team spirit and whanaungatanga exhibited throughout their three month training course is anything to go by, the new Officers are going to have a dramatic impact on both the Ministry of Fisheries and the communities they will be working with. A resounding haka, written by the Officers themselves and performed on graduation day, symbolised the vitality and the wairua that is being injected into Ministry. The Fishery Officer training began in early September with three days studying the background and kaupapa of customary fisheries legislation at Whakarongotai marae in Waikanae. Each of the new Fishery Officers will be involved in carrying out the full range of compliance and enforcement duties associated with their roles as Fishery Officers.