Proposed further temporary fishing closure of Te Mata and Waipatukahu, west Coromandel

Consultation background

Ngāti Tamaterā Treaty Settlement Trust, on behalf of Ngāti Tamaterā, requested a further temporary closure to the harvest of pipi, cockles, mussels and oysters, from Te Mata and Waipatukahu, west Coromandel. The request was for a 2-year closure.

Fisheries New Zealand sought feedback in response to the request from people who have an interest in the species concerned or in the effects of fishing in the area concerned.

Section 186A of the Fisheries Act 1996 allows the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries to temporarily close an area, or temporarily restrict or prohibit the use of any fishing method in respect of an area, if satisfied that the closure, restriction, or prohibition will recognise and provide for the use and management practices of tangata whenua in the exercise of non-commercial fishing rights.

Find out more about temporary closures

The proposed closure area

The approximate area of the proposed temporary closure included all those fisheries waters within the following lines:

• starting at a point on the mean high-water mark on the northern bank of the Ōtaki Creek mouth (at 36°57.743′S and 175°29.464′E); then
• proceeding in a straight line due west to a point 1 nautical mile offshore from the mean high-water mark (at 36°57.743′S and 175°28.205′E); then
• proceeding along a line in a generally southward direction, every point of which is 1 nautical from the mean high-water mark, to a point offshore (at 36°59.619′S and 175°28.857′E); then
• proceeding in a straight line due east to a point on the mean high-water mark on the southern bank of Diehard Stream mouth (at 36°59.619′S and 175°30.198′E); and then
• proceeding in a generally northerly direction along the mean high-water mark to the starting point.

Map of the proposed Te Mata and Waipatukahu temporary closure [PDF, 2.6 MB]

The closure request

Letter detailing the reasons for the closure request [PDF, 459 KB]

Public notice

A public notice about the call for submissions is scheduled to appear in the New Zealand Herald on Friday and the Hauraki Herald on Friday, 20 May 2022.

Submissions are public information

Note, that any submission you make becomes public information. People can ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we have to make submissions available unless we have a good reason for withholding it. That is explained 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 that it's commercially sensitive or it's personal information. However, any decision Fisheries New Zealand makes to withhold information can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may tell us to release it.