Your views sought
Te Runanga o Ngati Awa has applied for a mātaitai reserve over the fisheries waters of Moutohora (Whale), Rurima, Moutoki and Tokata Islands and coastal area. Consultation on the original application occurred in 2012. Te Runanga o Ngati Awa has since amended the application to reduce the proposed area from 63.8 square kilometres to 21.4 square kilometres.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) will hold a public meeting on the amended application and invites written submissions from the local community and persons having a fishing interest in the fishstock or stocks in the proposed reserve.
What's being proposed?
The amended proposed mātaitai reserve includes the fisheries waters:
- around Moutohora (Whale), Rurima, Moutoki and Tokata Islands extending 0.5 nautical miles from the mean high water mark
- along the coast between Wahieroa and the Whakatane River mouth extending 200 metres from the mean high water mark
- along the coast between the Whakatane River mouth and the Maraetotara Stream extending 0.25 nautical miles from the mean high water mark.
Download a map of the proposed Ngati Awa mātaitai reserve [PDF, 1.2 MB]
Application
Copies of the mātaitai reserve application are available on request by:
- emailing FMSubmissions@mpi.govt.nz
- writing to Fisheries Management – Spatial Allocations, Ministry for Primary Industries, PO Box 2526, Wellington 6140
Find out more about mātaitai reserves
Public meeting
A public meeting will be held on Tuesday, 10 November 2015 at 7.30pm at Whakatane Sports Fishing Club, Muriwai Drive, Whakatane.
Public notices about the meeting with the local community and the call for written submissions are scheduled to appear in The Whakatane Beacon newspaper on:
- Wednesday, 28 October 2015
- Friday, 6 November 2015.
How to make a submission
The closing date for written submissions from the local community AND persons having a fishing interest in the fishstock or stocks in the proposed reserve is Friday, 18 December 2015.
Email your submission to FMSubmissions@mpi.govt.nz
You can also post your submission to:
Fisheries Management – Spatial Allocations
Ministry for Primary Industries
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140
Submissions are public information
Any submission you make becomes public information. Anyone can ask for copies of all submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the information available, unless we have a good reason for withholding it. You can find those grounds in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA. Tell us if you think there are grounds to withhold specific information in your submission. Reasons might include, it's commercially sensitive or it's personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold information can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may require the information be released.
