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You are here: The issues Contains: Aquaculture Contains: Aquaculture reform Contains:

Treaty settlement

How much space is allocated to Māori?

20 percent of aquaculture space created after 21 September 1992 will be allocated to Māori on a region-by-region basis, except in harbours identified by the Second Schedule of the Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004.

Te Ohu Kai Moana Trustee Ltd will receive this space on behalf of iwi as Trustee, then follow a prescribed process to allocate this space to the appropriate iwi.

How will the allocation work?

New space

20 percent of any new space will be allocated to the trustee on behalf of the relevant iwi. This space must be representative of the space within an AMA and be of an economic size.

This applies to AMAs created through the council-initiated, normal, or invited private plan change process.

Existing space

There are three methods that the Crown can obtain space for iwi:

  1. Allocating up to an additional 20 percent of any new AMA space in addition to the 20 percent relating to ‘new space’. This means that up to 40 percent of new space could be allocated to iwi. This is only for council-initiated or normal private plan changes, not invited private plan changes.
  2. The Crown can buy the required space.
  3. Financial equivalent.

What will stop iwi from being allocated unusable space?

The council most allocate space to the trustee that is representative of:

  1. Each farming type covered by the rules relating to the AMA
  2. The overall productive capacity of the new space.

It should also be of an economic size.

If the council cannot provide the trustee with representative space of economic size for each of the aquaculture types covered, the space should be of economic size, if possible, and must be of average, or better-than-average productive capacity.

The Ministry of Fisheries will prepare some advice for councils on what “representative” is.

The council can also create an AMA specifically to provide new space to the trustee.

Does the 20 percent allocation to Māori mean the government will take 20 percent of my farm?

No, 20 percent of new AMA space will be allocated to Māori. In areas where there is no new space that can be allocated, the government will purchase farms from willing buyers. If you don't want to sell your farm, you don't have to.

A proportion of new space will be allocated to Māori - the proportion varies depending on whether the AMA was initiated by council or a private proponent. A maximum of 20 percent of the AMA space initiated by an invited private proponent will be allocated to Māori; the proportion may be higher for council-initiated or normal private plan change AMAs as the Crown tries to achieve its goal of providing iwi with the equivalent of 20 percent of space allocated since 1992.

How will the buy-back work?

The government is still working on the details of this. Buying farms will be a normal market purchase.

Will iwi still have to obtain coastal permits to develop a marine farm?

Yes. Any marine farming space provided to iwi is subject to all general RMA requirements. The iwi would need to obtain a permit before marine farming can begin, and would need to renewal its existing permit upon expiry.

Any marine farming space provided to iwi would be subject to all general RMA requirements including the resource consent application process, resource consent expiry and environmental considerations.

When do settlement authorisations expire?

Authorisations to apply for consent for the Treaty settlement do not expire, unless the AMA to which they apply no longer exists.

This is different to normal aquaculture authorisations that expire 2 years after they are allocated.

I already have a private agreement with the local iwi to share the benefits of my farm. What will their system mean for me?

The government will not alter private agreements that any marine farmer has with Māori. If you make any private arrangements in the future it is your business, and you are responsible for these arrangements.

There are no marine farms in my region. What happens?

Where there is no existing or proposed marine farming, then there is no requirement for any space or equivalent to be provided to iwi.

Who is responsible for implementing the Treaty settlement?

The Ministry of Fisheries will implement the settlement and its associated administrative functions. Contact the Ministry of Fisheries for more information. Te Ohu Kai Moana Trustee Ltd is the trustee.