Mike Butler: ‘Fishing’ tribes say bill breaches treaty

Tribal business leaders claim the government’s rejection of a recommendation to exempt iwi from re-flagging foreign charter vessels is a modern breach of the Treaty of Waitangi that would diminish the fisheries settlement by between 20 and 30 percent.

About 60 tribal business leaders were to discuss the bill at the Iwi Leaders Forum meeting in Te Kuiti on Friday. The bill had its second reading in Parliament on April 15.

Mike Butler: Fisheries favouritism pondered

A clause exempting iwi quota holders from having to use New Zealand-flagged boats after 2016 remains in the Fisheries (Foreign Charter Vessels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill despite an indication from Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy that the amended bill would not stamp out bad behaviour.

The exemption for tribal owners of fishery quota until 2020 was included in the bill that would require all fishing vessels to re-flag and register in New Zealand by 2016. Tribal corporations claimed it would be uneconomical to fish the quota if they could not continue to use foreign vessels.