Have your say
Te Rūnanga o Awarua has applied for a mātaitai reserve over the lower reaches of the Tautuku and Fleming Rivers, South Otago. Fisheries New Zealand invites submissions from persons having a fishing interest in the stock or stocks in the proposed mātaitai reserve area. People with a fishing interest are those who take fish, aquatic life, or seaweed, or own quota, and whose ability to take such fish, aquatic life, or seaweed, or whose ownership interest in quota may be affected.
A mātaitai reserve is an identified traditional fishing ground and is established for the purpose of customary food gathering. Mātaitai reserves are limited to fisheries waters and do not include any land area.
Find out more about mātaitai reserves
Earlier consultation held with the local community
Te Rūnanga o Awarua and Fisheries New Zealand have previously consulted with the local community on the application. That consultation did not result in any changes being made to the application.
Find out more about the consultation with the local community (closed 16 March 2020)
What's being proposed?
The application is seeking approval for a mātaitai reserve over the South Island fisheries waters of the lower reaches of the Tautuku River extending upstream to the Chaslands Highway; and the Fleming River between its confluence with the Tautuku River and upstream to the Chaslands Highway. It covers those South Island fisheries waters within the following lines:
- From the starting point on the mean high-water mark on the northern side of the Tautuku River mouth at 46°36.759'S and 169°25.834'E; then
- By a straight line in a south-easterly direction to a point on the mean high-water mark of the Tautuku Peninsula at 46°35.980'S and 169°26.158'E; and
- Includes the lower reaches of the Tautuku River up to the Chaslands Highway; and
- Includes the lower reaches of the Fleming River between its confluence with the Tautuku River and up to the Chaslands Highway.
Consultation documents
Tautuku mātaitai reserve application [PDF, 495 KB]
Proposed Tautuku mātaitai reserve map [PDF, 1.6 MB]
Making your submission
The closing date for submissions is 8 March 2021.
Email your submission to FMSubmissions@mpi.govt.nz
While we prefer email, you can post your submission to:
Fisheries Management – Spatial Planning and Allocations
Fisheries New Zealand
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140.
Public notices
Public notices about the call for submissions are scheduled to appear in:
- the Otago Daily Times on 23 January 2021
- The Star (Dunedin) and Southland Express on 28 January 2021
- The Ensign on 29 January 2021.
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.
