September 20, 2017
Poor paua process undermines settlement
Te Ohu Kaimoana says the way Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has cut the Total Allowable Commercial Catch for paua breaches the 1992 Fisheries Deed of Settlement.
Chief executive Dion Tuuta says the Maori fisheries settlement trust supports catch reductions to ensure the sustainability of fishing stocks.
However, a quirk in the quota management system means a small number of quota owners who in 1986 turned down financial compensation for a reduction in their catch history have a right to buy quota if the catch goes up again.
That means Maori settlement quota shares will be taken by the crown and given to the holders of these rights without compensation for iwi.
Mr Tuuta says Mr Guy ignored an industry recommendation the quota in paua and other affected species be shelved voluntarily, which would have avoided the problem.
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