About Mātaitai
The mātaitai concept
The Mātaitai tool was created under the Treaty of Waitangi (Fisheries Claims) Settlement Act 1992 (better known as the ‘Sealord’s Deal’), but Mātaitai could not be established until the South Island Customary Fishing Regulations and the Kaimoana Fishing Regulations (applying to North Island and the Chatham Islands) were gazetted in 1998. In recognition of the Crown’s misappropriation of fish that belonged to Tangata Whenua before the imposition of the Quota Management System (QMS), Tangata Whenua received cash compensation and ownership of some commercial fishing companies and a promise of 20% of any new quota as species are entered into the QMS. Customary non-commercial fishing was to be protected by the establishment of customary fishing regulations, those regulations included 'mātaitai reserves' (Customary Food Gathering Areas) to recognise and prior for Tangata Whenua use management practises over traditional fishing grounds.
Mātaitai provide for Tangata Tiaki (Māori fisheries guardians) to be nominated by the Tangata Whenua and appointed by the Minister of Fisheries. These guardians are usually Tangata Whenua and they have a right to establish bylaws to exercise kaitiakitanga. The Minister retains limited discretion on approving bylaws for sustainability. In essence the accountability of the performance of the mātaitai rests squarely with Tangata Whenua in the first instance. Bylaws only apply to customary and recreational fishing, and nearly always commercial fishing is banned within the mātaitai reserve itself. The regulations provide a possibility for Tangata Tiaki to ‘manage’ commercial fishing within the Mātaitai through requests to Minister to establish regulations (by species, quantity and season) to reinstate commercial fishing reserve. See our more general description of Area Management Tools for a fuller comparison of mātaitai with other approaches.
Established mātaitai
There are six mātaitai reserves established. [Year established and the area covered is indicated]:
- Rapaki Bay (Lyttelton Harbour), 1998, 0.3 km2.
- Koukourarata (Lyttelton Harbour), 2000, 8 km2.
- Te Whaka ā te Wera (Rakiura - Stewart Island), 2004, 77 km2.
- Moremore (Hawkes Bay), 2005, 22.5 km2.
- Mataura River (Southland), 2005, 10 km of the river.
- Raukokore (East Cape), 2005, 19 km2.
Proposed mātaitai
Fifteen additional mātaitai were under application with the Ministry of Fisheries in July 2007.
- Aotea Harbour (west coast of the North Island)
- Marokopa (west coast of the North Island)
- Te Moana o Mauao (Mt. Maunganui)
- Raukokore (Bay of Plenty)
- Te Whanau-a-Hunaara (East Cape)
- Kairakau Lands Trust (Southern Hawkes Bay)
- Pukaroro (Wairarapa)
- Matakitaki a Kupe (Cape Palliser)
- Tory Channel (Marlborough Sounds)
- D’Urville Island (Marlborough Sounds)
- Moeraki Peninsula (North Otago)
- Puna Wai Tōriki (South Otago)
- Waikawa Harbour/Tumu Toka (The Catlins)
- Waitutu (Southland)
- Tamaitemioka Tītī Moutere (southwest of Stewart Island)
Mātaitai Management Committees are now invited by Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai to create web pages for their own reserve, to tell everyone who you are, explain your bylaws and why you formed them. Your own website pages can also be used as your own private forum and organizer of your management processes and meetings if you so wish. Contact Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai for advice or visit our network resource management page to get started by yourself. To visit the established pages for each proposed or gazetted mātaitai, click on the name of the reserve in the two lists above.
Resources for Tangata Whenua seeking to establish and/or manage mātaitai:
The Ministry of Fisheries Pou Takawaenga exist to support Tangata Whenua in the processes of establishing and managing mātaitai, taiāpure and imposition of temporary closures. Within the Ngāi Tahu takiwā, Nigel Scott from Toitū Te Whenua is the main facilitator working alongside Ministry of Fisheries. nigel.scott@ngāitahu.iwi.nz.
Resources available for download include:
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Summary of taiāpure and mātaitai applications (to July 2007) has been kindly provided by the Ministry of Fisheries. You may like to network with tangata kaitiaki/Tiaki at similar or later stages of the establishment process listed in this document.
- PowerPoint presentation comparing taiāpure and mātaitai.
- AMT Guidebook
- AMT Pamphlet
- Formal regulations for mātaitai for North Island and South Island
- Examples of established Mātaitai Management Plans
- Brochures from individual mātaitai reserves
Useful Links:
- Ministry of Fisheries Māori pages, especially the explanation of the regulations and procedures for the Kaimoana Regulations and South Island Customary Regulations in plain language.
