Application to establish the Puketeraki mātaitai reserve near Karitāne, north of Dunedin

Your views sought

Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki has applied for a mātaitai reserve (Puketeraki mātaitai reserve) near Karitāne, north of Dunedin, Otago. 

Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki and Fisheries New Zealand will hold a local community meeting to discuss the application.

This is the first of 2 consultations to be held about the application. For this consultation, we invite submissions on the proposal from the local community.

Find out about the second consultation

The proposed area of the reserve

The proposed area includes approximately 47.5 square kilometres of South Island fisheries waters enclosed by a line drawn between Cornish Head (Ohineamio) and Purehurehu Point (west of Heyward Point) and the seaward boundary of the East Otago Taiāpure (local fishery). The southern boundary of the proposed area between Potato Point and Purehurehu Point is the mean high-water mark.

Consultation documents

Map of the proposed Puketeraki mātaitai reserve [PDF, 8.9 MB]

Application for Puketeraki mātaitai reserve [PDF, 707 KB]

Making your submission

Submissions close at 5pm on Monday 6 October 2025.

Email your submission to FMSubmissions@mpi.govt.nz

While we prefer email, you can post your submission to:

Fisheries management – spatial allocations
Fisheries New Zealand
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140.

Public notices about this consultation

Public notices about the meeting with the local community and the call for submissions are scheduled to appear in:

• the Otago Daily Times on Tuesday 15 July 2025 and Thursday 24 July 2025
• The Star on Thursday 14 August 2025
• the August edition of both the POWA (Progress of the Waikouaiti Area) and Blueskin News.

A second consultation is planned

After the local community consultation period has closed, Fisheries New Zealand will hold a second consultation.

This will invite written submissions from people who take fish, aquatic life, or seaweed or own quota, and whose ability to take fish, aquatic life, or seaweed, or whose ownership interest in quota may be affected by the proposed mātaitai reserve.

The second consultation will be advertised in the same newspapers and on this website.

About mātaitai reserves

A mātaitai reserve is an identified traditional fishing ground which tangata whenua have a special relationship with.

Mātaitai reserves are limited to fisheries waters and do not include any land area. Mātaitai reserves do not change any existing arrangements for access to private land.

Mātaitai reserves do not affect private landowners’ land titles, or their ability to exercise resource consents for such things as taking water or extracting gravel or sand. Resource consents are managed under the Resource Management Act 1991.

Find out more about mātaitai reserves

Fisheries (South Island Customary Fishing) Regulations 1999 – NZ Legislation

Recreational fishing

Mātaitai reserves do not change the recreational fishing rules. However, the Tangata Tiaki/Kaitiaki for a mātaitai reserve may propose changes to the rules at a later date. These are called mātaitai reserve bylaws. Any proposed bylaws will be consulted on separately with the public and relevant stakeholders. They need to be approved by the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries.

Commercial fishing

Commercial fishing is generally banned in a mātaitai reserve. However, the applicants have proposed conditions to allow some commercial fishing activities to continue. The proposed conditions are set out in section 6 of the application.

Application for Puketeraki mātaitai reserve [PDF, 707 KB]