Media release from Te Ohu Kaimoana (Maori Fisheries Trust)

Te Ohu Kaimoana welcomes release of Ministerial Panel report

Te Ohu Kaimoana (the Maori Fisheries Trust) welcomed the release of the report from the Ministerial Inquiry into the use of Foreign Charter Vessels in New Zealand’s deepwater fishery

Maori settlement quota accounts for less than 10 per cent of all deepwater quota and this could never be greater than 17% of the deepwater fish caught by FCVs.

Chairman Matiu Rei said that Te Ohu Kaimoana was likely to be supportive of the Government’s decision to accept-in-principle the first six recommendations made by the Ministerial Panel. These appear to be sensible measures to fine-tune the existing mechanisms to ensure the regime is effective.

The other recommendations seem more far-reaching and like the Government Te Ohu Kaimoana needs time to fully assess those recommendations. “We consider the Panel deserves the courtesy of us reading and assessing the full detail of their 130-page report before responding. When we have completed that, we intend to provide advice to iwi quota owners who will also need to understand the full implications of what the report means for their fishing businesses,” Mr Rei said.

Te Ohu Kaimoana will work with the relevant government agencies and other members of the fishing industry to provide iwi with a full assessment of the proposals.
ENDS

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