CEO's Introduction

He Kororia ki te Atua
He maungarongo ki runga i te whenua
He whakaaro pai ki nga tangata katoa

Nga whakaaro ki a ratou kua wheturangitia, me ou ratou whanau i noho ai i raro i te kapua pouri. Nga manaakitanga o te Atua ki runga i a tatou katoa.

 

Nga whakaaro ki a ratou kua wheturangitia, me ou ratou whanau i noho ai i raro i te kapua pouri. Nga manaakitanga o te Atua ki runga i a tatou katoa.

In the two years since the passing of the Maori Fisheries Act and Te Ohu Kaimoana taking over the role of the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission, it is perhaps timely to take stock of the events of the last two years and the progress made on allocation of the fisheries settlement.

The September mandating of eight iwi organisations and allocation of their share of assets was widely publicised throughout the country. Rather than making news in the country's major metropolitan newspapers, however, these recent allocations only caught the interest of journalists at provincial newspapers; their articles took a local flavour as they wrote about the opportunities for iwi in their areas.

The public interest in our organisation has reduced immensely since the debate over how to allocate the settlement came to its conclusion in 2003. The publication of He Kawai Amokura, the report that detailed the final agreement over each iwi's share and which was sent to the Minister of Fisheries, completed 12 years of passionate discussion over allocation. At the same time, journalists' interest in the workings of the Commission similarly dried up. The old adage that “good news is not news” appears true for our metropolitan daily newspapers.

Media that concentrate on issues pertaining solely to Maori, such as Radio Waatea, Maori Television, Mana News and a few others, continue to provide a good flow of information for iwi organisations over fisheries issues, reflecting the importance of kai moana and the marine environment to our people.

Allocation also is of interest in the provinces where the injection of millions of dollars is likely to have a noticeable and a possibly more immediate effect. However, once allocation is completed and the fisheries settlement assets are in their final resting places, the interests of Maori – and the New Zealand public alike – will likely fall on how those assets are used. While some iwi representatives might find such interest an intrusion into their rights to manage their fisheries settlement as they see fit, it must also be seen as further means of ensuring accountability outside of the standard financial reporting mechanisms.

The total value of the assets being distributed is not small. Taken collectively, fisheries assets worth more than $350 million have been allocated to the 35 iwi organisations that have been mandated in the last 12 months. And there are still a further 22 iwi organisations that will hopefully have completed the process in time for the April 2007 fishing year. The total amount allocated will have an enormous impact on the Maori economy and iwis' utilisation of the asset will likely generate interest.

A key component of allocation has been ensuring the right management and constitutional structures are in place. Accountability plays an important role in protecting the settlement for future generations. In the process of mandating iwi in the last 12 months, there has been some criticism of this, notably that some iwi are having to duplicate structures to satisfy Te Ohu Kaimoana for the fisheries settlement and also the Crown for other Treaty settlements. Te Ohu Kaimoana has some sympathy with this view, but believes that requirements can be met in such a way that satisfies all parties involved.

In any event, Te Ohu Kaimoana is confident that the template constitutions and management structures that are offered to iwi organisations in the fisheries settlement processes can meet the needs of iwi in discussions with the Crown.

Our role is to place these fisheries assets with MIOs as soon as is practicable. Te Ohu Kaimoana will have a reduced role to play in the future. That role is likely to involve protection of our asset value through involvement in fisheries management issues and limited staff where allocation will be a mechanical process of delivery to MIOs each year.

Te Ohu Kaimoana
Iwi approved as Mandated Iwi Organisations (MIO)
at 30 September 2006

IWI	MIO DATE	approx VAlue (NZ$)
Ngapuhi	Sept 05	60,550,000
Ngati Kahu ki Whaingaroa	Sept 05	1,150,000
Te Aitanga a Mahaki	Sept 05	2,541,000
Ngati Rarua	Sept 05	455,000
Ngati Mutunga (Chatham)	Sept 05	13,763,000
Moriori	Sept 05	13,462,000
Ngati Awa	Nov 05	7,481,000
Ngaitakoto	Nov 05	843,000
Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai	Nov 05	677,000
Ngai Tamanuhiri	Feb 06	682,000
Ngati Kuia	Feb 06	713,000
Ngati Apa ki te Waipounamu	Feb 06	367,000
Ngati Apa (North Island)	Mar 06	1,388,000
Ngati Hauiti	Mar 06	971,000
Ngati Whatua	Mar 06	7,404,000
Ngati Ruanui	Mar 06	3,205,000
Ngati Porou	Mar 06	35,915,000
Te Atiawa (Wellington)	Mar 06	993,000
Ngati Koata	Mar 06	498,000
Ngai Tahu	May 06	59,074,000
Waikato	May 06	27,093,000
Rongowhakaata	May 06	2,171,000
Ngati Kahungunu	Aug 06	31,139,000
Hauraki (representing 12 iwi)	Aug 06	7,932,000
Te Atihaunui a Paparangi	Aug 06	5,694,000
Te Rarawa	Aug 06	6,987,000
Te Arawa (representing 11 iwi)	Sept 06	23,602,000
Taranaki	Sept 06	3,495,000
Ngati Tama ( South Island )	Sept 06	364,000
Ngati Pukenga	Sept 06	988,000
Ngaitai	Sept 06	1,320,000
Tuhoe	Sept 06	17,309,000
Te Atiawa (Taranaki)	Sept 06	8,237,000
Ngati Raukawa ki Waikato	Sept 06	5,271,000
Ngati Mutunga (Taranaki)	Sept 06	960,000
TOTAL		$354,693,000

 

Notes:

• Approximate value is the ‘population' component of each iwi's share of the fisheries settlement, i.e. 75% of deepwater quota, shares in Aotearoa Fisheries Limited and cash. Shares of inshore, harbour, remaining deepwater and freshwater fishstocks to be allocated once agreements reached between adjacent iwi.

• Chatham Islands ' iwi have their full allocation.

• Ngai Tahu received additional initial inshore quota allocation for FMA5 in which there are no neighbouring iwi, therefore agreement not required.

Naku noa, na
Peter Douglas
Chief Executive

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Tiakina ngā rawa hi ika, a tātou kaimoana mo ngā uri whakaheke
Protecting Māori fisheries assets for future generations

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