Following consultation, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries has decided to establish the Orari Mātaitai Reserve.
The reserve will take effect from 16 June 2025.
All commercial fishing is prohibited in a mātaitai reserve. Recreational fishing remains subject to the rules in the Fisheries (Amateur Fishing) Regulations 2013.
A map of the reserve area is on this page: Customary fisheries management area
Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua applied for a mātaitai reserve at Orari, South Canterbury.
Fisheries New Zealand invited 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.
Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua and Fisheries New Zealand have previously consulted the local community on the application.
Find out about the first consultation with the local community (closed 7/08/2023)
The proposed area included the lower reaches of the Orari River, Coopers Creek and Ohapi Creek, east of State Highway 1 at Temuka, South Canterbury, and the adjoining streams, creeks and bodies of water within a defined boundary.
Map of the proposed Orari Mātaitai Reserve [PDF, 11 MB]
Application from Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua for the Orari Mātaitai Reserve [PDF, 604 KB]
A Public notice about the call for submissions was scheduled to appear in the Christchurch Press and the Timaru Herald on Wednesday 24 January 2024.
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 also 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.
Mātaitai reserves do not change the existing recreational fishing rules. However, commercial fishing is banned in a mātaitai reserve.
Mātaitai reserves do not have an impact on whitebait or trout fishing.
Find out more about mātaitai reserves
Fisheries (South Island Customary Fishing) Regulations 1999 – NZ Legislation
Note that all, part, or a summary of your submission may be published on this website. Most often this happens when we issue a document that reviews the submissions received.
People can also ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the content of submissions available unless we have good reason for withholding it. Those reasons are detailed in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA.
If you think there are grounds to withhold specific information from publication, make this clear in your submission or contact us. Reasons may include that it discloses commercially sensitive or personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold details can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may direct us to release it.
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