The rahui or ban on taking seafood from areas previously contaminated by oil from the grounded cargo ship Rena has now been lifted.

Tauranga Moana Iwi Customary Fisheries Trust says the rahui is no longer in place due to the advancement of the salvage effort on the Rena and improved water quality.

Volunteers work to remove oil from beaches in the Bay of Plenty following the grounding of the Rena. Their efforts have resulted in the rahui on seafood being lifted.

Trust chairman Penetaka Dickson says the threat imposed by the Rena is becoming more manageable and clean up efforts of the coastline have been successful to date, therefore, it was appropriate to lift the Rahui.

'The community clean up has been magnificent on a number of levels and iwi would like to express admiration for the hard work and dedication by so many people. It would have been a lot worse without that collective community effort.”

Penetaka says while the rahui is no longer in place, people should exercise good judgement if they are catching fish or collecting shellfish.

'The advice we have been given is people should engage their senses and smell any seafood they collect and taste a little before deciding whether the kaimoana is safe to eat.

'If there is any hint of a hydrocarbon smell then they should not eat it at all. It just isn't worth the risk to anyone's health.”

Penetaka says iwi appreciate how the rahui has been respected by all sectors of the community.

'A rahui has no legal authority, however it is something that is used to signal to a community that a problem exists and care should be taken. We are respecting our community by placing the ban, and they in turn have shown respect for our custom.”

'We understand how difficult it has been for some people not to fish in the areas where they like to fish, but there has been a health imperative and we are seeking to keep all members of our community healthy and able to enjoy the fishing when it is safe to do so.”