OIA21-0777
17 August 2021
Lilian Harley
[FYI request #15875 email]
Dear Lilian Harley
Thank you for your email of 22 June 2021 requesting information relating to Maori Fisheries
Act Al ocations. Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982
(OIA).
You requested the following:
Please provide a list of iwi/hapu groups in New Zealand who receive an
allocation of quota, shares or cash under the Maori Fisheries Act 2004
and/or the Maori Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004. Please provide
details of the annual quota, shares or cash each group received in the
previous 5 years.
Under the Maori Fisheries Act 2004 (the Act), the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is
responsible for transferring 20 percent of quota share for any new species brought into the
Quota Management System to Te Ohu Kaimoana Trustee Limited (Te Ohu).
Te Ohu is responsible for allocating and transferring these quota shares to iwi, in accordance with
the distribution rules in the Maori Fisheries Act. Any changes to quota share holdings are recorded
by MPI in the Quota Register. Iwi who can receive quota are noted in Schedule 3 of the Maori
Fisheries Act. The proportions in which quota shares for each fish stock is required to be allocated
is set out in the Act. That proportion has not changed since the Act was made.
MPI does not hold an accurate and up to date list of iwi/hapu groups in New Zealand who receive
an allocation of quota, shares or cash under the Act, as such, this part of your request is declined
under section 18(g) of the OIA -
that the information requested is not held by the department or
venture or Minister of the Crown or organisation.
MPI does not hold information on cash transfers to iwi, or transfer of share in iwi companies
arising from Treaty Settlements. The transfer of these assets is a function of Te Ohu under
the provisions of the Act. Te Ohu is a private trust company and not subject to the Of icial
Information Act. However, the quota shares of each iwi Asset Holding Company for each fish
stock are recorded as settlement quota by Fishserve and are publicly available on their
website at
https:/ www.fishserve.co.nz/information/quota-shares.
Charles Fergusson Building, 34-38 Bowen Street
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140, New Zealand
mpi.govt.nz
I trust the information provided is of assistance. Should you have any concerns with this
response, I would encourage you to raise these with the Ministry for Primary Industries at
[email address]. Alternatively, you are advised of your right to also raise
any concerns with the Of ice of the Ombudsman. Contact details are: Office of the
Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143 or at
[email address].
Yours sincerely
Judith MacDonald
Acting Director Fisheries & Aquaculture Treaty Partnerships
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