After the whaling industry ended in the 1960s, New Zealand government steered toward protecting the marine animals by passing the Marine Mammals Protection Act (1978). Maori were not “whalers” as such, however, in Maori’s culture whales were considered to be their taonga (treasure) and stranded whales were regarded as a special gift from the sea god Tangaroa. This Act, non the less, disregarded Maori culture and did not recognize any rights for whales for the Maori people. This paper describes how Maori people have struggled with maintaining their traditional interests and rights around whales, by using two examples. (1) the Kaikoura whale watching business and (2) dealing with stranded whales. (1)The Kaikoura whale watching business case The whale watching business is now monopolized by “Whale Watch”, a company under the management of Ngati Kuri people of Kaikoura. A special permit from the Department of Conservation is necessary in order to operate a whale watching boat. Though many people wanted a permit to get in the whale watching business, local Maori asserted that the permit should be under the purview of local Maori, because whales as well as the beaches and the ocean where whales habitat are their taonga. (2) The stranded whale case Every year numerous whales get stranded on New Zealand beaches. According to the law, whales that have been washed ashore must be returned to the sea if they are still alive, and if they are dead, they are to be buried under the order of the local agency of the Department of Conservation. Regarding these new systems, Maori accused the authorities of destroying their traditional culture of using stranded whale meat, whale teeth, whale bones and whale oil and these acts violated the Treaty of Waitangi Act. As a result of consultation, these items from the stranded whale, if it is dead, are now available to Maori except for whale meat. Whale meat needs to be tested for pathogens. It is edible, if it is absent such pathogens.

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