Hobbies And Interests
Nets
Maori fishermen threw individual hand nets, called "titoka ika," into the sea from the shoreline. The Maori also made large seine nets, or "kaharoa," that required several people to handle them. Fishermen attached stones to the bottom of these seine nets to act as weights, and gourds, coconuts or wood to the top to provide flotation. The fishers set the seine nets out into the sea by boat or canoe, then pulled toward the shoreline to trap the fish. The largest documented Maori seine net, documented in 1886 at Maketu, was roughly a mile long. It was made for a huge tribal gathering, and it took the entire community to haul in the catch. Green flax was the most commonly used net-making material.
Spears, Hooks and Lines
Maori fishing lines were made of twisted flax fibers. Fishermen made hooks in a variety of sizes and shapes of shell, bone, wood and sometimes stone. Sometimes fishermen used a gorge, a sharp bit of bone that would catch in a fish’s mouth, rather than a hook. Fishermen also used iridescent abalone, or "paua," shells as lures to attract certain fish such as the sea trout, or "kahawai." The Maori sometimes hunted bottom-dwelling fish like flounder with barbed spears.
Pots
Crab and lobster fishermen today use metal or wooden cages called pots for their catch. The Maori version, also called pots, or "taruke," worked on the same principle. Fishermen would make the frames for the pots out of vines and branches of the tea tree, or "manuka," plant. Younger manuka stems were formed around this frame, then tied on with more vines or flax cord. The fishermen filled the pots with bait and left them on the seabed to trap crayfish or crab.