Fears over rise of stolen pounamu being sold on black market

Fears of a growing black market of pounamu has led to Ngāi Tahu, the owners of the precious resource, seeking compliance powers to prevent it.

Last Wednesday, a mother and son were found guilty of attempting to illegally export pounamu in the first successful prosecution of its kind under the Customs Export Prohibition (Pounamu) Order 2021.

Only Ngāi Tahu could now legally sell pounamu in its raw form, and exporters must seek permission from the Customs Minister, following advice from the iwi, for it to leave the country. But the number of sellers online trading in the precious resource with no connection to the iwi was growing.

Francois Tumahai, chair of papatipu rūnanga (hapū governance group) for Ngāti Waewae based at Arahura near Hokitika, said last week's prosecution was significant in that it was the first to be taken to trial in the last 20 to 25 years.

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“The black market's rife and pounamu leaving this country is not new. It's been going on a for a long time [and] it continues to go on so this is important to draw a line in the sand to stop it.”

While public fossicking for small amounts of pounamu is allowed on West Coast beaches, the iwi suspects larger quantities are being stolen by miners and sold on the black market.

“The only place that's coming from in any quantity to ship off seas is through the alluvial gold mining industry. It's that simple,” said Tumahai.

Ngāi Tahu Pounamu manager Chantal Tumahai said the iwi had noticed a significant increase of dubious selling online through marketplace sites.

“You've got… TradeMe, you've got Facebook groups, you've got private Facebook groups that you've got to join to be part of to be able to trade stone through there, you've got Marketplace, you've got Etsy – the scale has grown significantly since Covid and we don't have enough staff to be able to manage and look into all of the avenues.”

It was also difficult to tell whether the stones were sourced legally.

“A lot of people will say that they've got it from the West Coast, but ‘who from the West Coast have you got that from’ is a big question for us that we always ask. When we dive deep into those questions, we get blocked and they don't engage with us anymore.”

The iwi found a listing recently of a piece of pounamu said to be sourced from Douglas Creek.

“That seller does not have a permit for pounamu – to get to fossick for pounamu in that area – so that... is definitely an illegal piece of pounamu that has been listed on TradeMe,” said Tumahai.

Once such listings were identified, the iwi followed through the process of reporting them with the relevant sites, she said.

James Ryan, manager for policy and compliance at TradeMe, told 1News the site was committed to protecting taonga of Aotearoa and had a dedicated process where iwi could directly flag any listings believed to be illegitimate.

"We rely on this channel of communication and are committed to investigating any items that are brought to our attention.

"We operate in strict accordance with the Protected Objects Act 1975, the Ngāi Tahu Pounamu Vesting Act 1997, and the specific rules for selling taonga tūturu set by the Ministry for Culture & Heritage."

He said TradeMe had a team that proactively monitored the site and removed any listings in breach of policies.

"We value our relationship with local iwi and will continue to work closely with them, as well as with NZ Police and the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, to ensure Trade Me is a safe and trusted place for Kiwi to trade."

Under the Ngāi Tahu (Pounamu Vesting) Act 1997, the iwi held legal ownership of all naturally occurring pounamu within its tribal boundaries.

For raw pounamu sourced from the Arahura River, north of Hokitika on the West Coast, advice from the Mawhera Incorporation, a group representing the area’s original Māori landowners, was required.

Shane Lang, kaiwhakahaere of Mawhera Incorporation, said he would like to sit down with the minister to discuss how laws on the export of pounamu could be addressed.

“As the judge alluded to, they need some work. They're quite ‘loose’, I think were his terms,” he said.

Mawhera Incorporation had a relationship with Customs “going back decades”, said Lang, referring to a seizure in 2001.

Chantal Tumahai said Ngāi Tahu worked closely with NZ Police, but the iwi had no jurisdiction if people took pounamu from its natural environment.

“If we come across someone who's on the river and they shouldn't be and they're fossicking illegally, we can't give them a fine of some sort so it would be nice to have compliance in the future.”

Francois Tumahai said compliance powers had been sought for the last 20 years.

“We can't do anything. We have to get the support of Customs, police, councils – everybody – to actually go on to these mine sites to see what's going on, and of course, if we want to talk to these miners they're happy to do that but we have to make an appointment. Well, the pounamu's gone by then, right?”

Ngāi Tahu established an authenticity scheme where individuals and businesses could apply to become licensed to purchase certified raw pounamu from the iwi and display the Authentic Ngāi Tahu Pounamu logo.

Chantal Tumahai said all pounamua pproved by the scheme was from either the two kaitiaki (guardian) papatipu rūnanga – Ngāti Waewae, and Makaawhio whose area extends south to Milford Sound – or from whānau who whakapapa to the two hapū.

“Everything that we sell is through a carver's website, it all has its own traceability code so you can trace the whakapapa of the raw stone.”

She said every piece carved from the stone would have its own eight-digit authenticity code to say it was sourced legally.

A registry of carvers and stockists was also available on the site.

Tumahai said buyers should look out for trademarks and logos to help verify the piece of pounamu.

“We have a few brands, a few logos: A Ngāi Tahu Pounamu logo, a NZ Pounamu, and then a Poutini Ngāi Tahu Pounamu logo as well.”

She added: “Look out for that iwi trademark so you have the reassurance that you've got a taonga that has been sourced legitimately.”