This thesis sets out to examine issues of selectivity and availability in fishing and shellfish gathering by pre-European Maori at Triangle Flat in western Golden Bay. Faunal remains from four archaeological sites have revealed new and valuable information about economic subsistence practices in this region. It is proposed that exploitation of these important coastal resources was based on factors other than the availability of, proximity to resource patches. Evidence from the Triangle Flat sites is compared to that from Tasman Bay and the southern North Island to gain a regional perspective on fishing and shellfish gathering strategies. The most definitive evidence for selective targeting is provided by tuatua, an open beach species that has been found to dominate in sites based adjacent to tidal mud and sand flats. Also of interest is the dominance of mud snail in a site that is adjacent to large cockle and pipi beds. When regional sites were examined it was found that this pattern was also recorded for the site of Appleby in Tasman Bay. Selectivity in fishing strategies is also apparent with red cod and barracouta dominating the Triangle Flat assemblages. This pattern conforms to evidence from both eastern Golden Bay and Tasman Bay but does not reflect evidence from the southern North Island. Of particular interest is the apparent dearth of snapper in the sites at Triangle Flat, since snapper abounds in the area today. An explanation based on climatic change is considered to be the most feasible. This indicates that enviromentalal availability was at least in part responsible for the archaeological evidence of fishing. The consistency of the catch of red cod and barracouta in Golden Bay, and the pattern of shellfishing preferentially for tuatua suggests that cultural choice was also a significant selective factor.

Life was difficult in Te Wai Pounamu before European contact. Food collecting had to return more calories than were expended in the efforts of acquisition. Areas where food was available were conserved as well as enhanced and were exploited seasonally in such a way as to optimise each season's take. It is suggested that the absence of kumera cultivations south of the Opihi river, prior to the introduction of the potato towards the end of the 18th Century, was clearly reflected in Maori life-style and social structure. Hapu were resource based rather than regional, and the resources of various hapu might be intermingled over a wide area or indeed, in some cases, shared (see: Anderson, 1980). The "orthodox" view (Anderson, 1980, etc.) is one of "Hunters and Gatherers" who exploit available resources. I argue that the resources were, in fact, managed with a view to sustainable and optimal harvests in the future. I shall apply Harris' (1987:75) optimal foraging theory in an endeavour to show that there are signs of the quality of life as a result of a low per capita human energy input into food production. This is principally evidenced by the foods eaten just for pleasure (kai rehia) and the time available for optional activities. Accordingly, kai and the practices to control them differed from the often better documented food resources of more Northern parts of Te Wai Pounamu and Aotearoa. Nevertheless, the absence of horticulture in the south and the concomitant peripatetic life-style did not result in a lack of stewardship of resources. Based substantially on the analysis of a series of mahika kai lists, collected from elders early in the contact period, and details of traditional practices that have been handed down, this thesis argues that by 1780, when Captain Cook introduced European goods, southern Kai Tahu had in place effective procedures and practices for the sustainable use of renewable resources.