Application for Eastern BOP Mataitai Reserve

In 2011, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa (Ngāti Awa) applied for a mātaitai reserve surrounding Moutohorā Island (Whale Island), and the Rurima Island Group in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

Fisheries New Zealand want to receive updated views on the application.

Ngāti Awa and Fisheries New Zealand will hold a public meeting to discuss the application and invite submissions on the proposal from the local community.

This is the first of two consultation rounds that will be held about the application.

About mātaitai reserves

A mātaitai reserve is an identified traditional fishing ground which tangata whenua have a special relationship with. Mātaitai reserves are limited to fisheries waters and do not include any land area. Mātaitai reserves do not change any existing arrangements for access to private land.

Mātaitai reserves also do not affect private landowners’ land titles, or their ability to exercise resource consents for such things as taking water or extracting gravel or sand. Resource consents are managed under the Resource Management Act 1991.

Mātaitai reserves do not change the existing recreational fishing rules however commercial fishing is banned in a mātaitai reserve.

Mātaitai reserves do not have any impact on whitebait or trout fishing.

What area is being proposed?

The proposed area includes the New Zealand fisheries waters around Moutohorā Island (Whale Island), and the Rurima Island Group (Rurima, Moutoki, and Tokata), with the offshore boundaries extending to approximately 500 metres. The total proposed area is approximately 7.6 square kilometres.

History of this application

In 2011, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa (Ngāti Awa) lodged the Rurima – Moutohorā mātaitai reserve application. At that time, the proposed offshore boundaries extended to 1 nautical mile.

Fisheries New Zealand consulted on the application 3 times between 2012 and 2016, resulting in Ngāti Awa reducing the size of the proposed area to address concerns of commercial fishers.

In 2018, the then Minister for Oceans and Fisheries deferred a decision on the application due to its potential impact on commercial fishers. Ngāti Awa stated that further reductions of the proposed area would erode their capacity to exercise customary rights and impair their ability to meet their obligation of kaitiakitanga over their important customary fishing grounds. 

In 2024, Ngāti Awa and Fisheries New Zealand agreed to proceed with the application with the offshore boundaries extending to approximately 500 metres.

Ngāti Awa and Fisheries New Zealand are consulting on the application to ensure the local community are given the opportunity to provide contemporary views on the application.

Consultation 

The local community is invited to attend a public meeting to discuss the application:

•    Time: 5.30pm.

•    Date: Wednesday 21 August 2024.

•    Venue: Te Whare o Toroa (Wairaka) Marae, 97 Muriwai Drive, Whakatāne.

Submissions from the local community close at 5pm on Monday 16 September 2024. Email your submission to [email protected]. While we prefer email, you can post your submission to:

Fisheries management – Spatial allocations

Fisheries New Zealand

PO Box 2526

Wellington 6140.

Public notices about the meeting with the local community and the call for submissions are scheduled to appear in the Whakatāne Beacon on 31 July and 14 August 2024.

After the local community consultation period has closed, Fisheries New Zealand will hold a second consultation. This will invite written submissions from persons having a fishing interest in the stock or stocks in the proposed area. The second consultation will be advertised in the same newspapers and on this website.

For consultation documents and more information, click here.

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