Edward Waitoa was born in Waipero Bay and was educated at Wharekahika Primary School and Rerekohu District High School in Te Araroa. He worked in the New Zealand Army for one year and then moved to Wellington where he was a gas cutter on the Wahine for Pacific Scrap. For thirteen years Edward was employed at Dunlop’s tyre plant in Upper Hutt and concurrently underwent motor mechanic training through correspondence courses. He returned to Mahia and was appointed Fisheries Officer for Mahia, a position he held for five years.
Biographical sources
- Correspondence and phone conversations with Waitoa: 17 Jan, 10 and 17 July, 1998.
Children's literature
- "Protecting our Kaimoana." Photographs by Walton Walker. School Journal 3.3 (1990): 18-25.
- Waitoa discusses the depleted supplies of kaimoana and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ regulations concerning the size and quantity of kaimoana that can be taken from the sea.
- "One Day on the Beach." Photographs by Walton Walker. School Journal 3.3 (1990): 22-25.
- An account of one day in Waitoa’s job checking the catch of a paua fisherman.