Submissions on Shared Fisheries

Maori organisations and individuals put in a range of submissions to the
Ministry of Fisheries’ shared fisheries proposals. Thirty six submissions
were sent from iwi and Maori organisations and individuals.

Of these, 28 opposed the Ministry’s proposals outright and sought
the withdrawal of the discussion paper and many endorsed the
submissions of Te Ohu Kaimoana and/or Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd.

The remaining eight submissions supported aspects of the proposals
and opposed others. All of the submissions from Maori supported
obtaining more information on amateur and charter catch.

Of the Maori submissions, most wanted to see preference being
given to customary fishing when any quota allocations are made by
the Ministry and that customary allocation should not be considered
for trade-off with either the commercial or the recreational sectors.

A few supported giving priority to amateur fishing over
commercial – some qualifying that with words like “for species
that are important to recreational fishers”. One says that the
government should provide and maintain a basic level of
amateur take by establishing minimum tonnages for the sector
in each shared fishery.

The Ministry’s rudimentary analysis of all submissions can be
found at www.fish.govt.nz and click on “shared fisheries” in
the left-hand side list.

Source: Te tai Pari - issue 12