Application for a mātaitai reserve at Ōmāui, Southland

Consultation background

Te Rūnanga o Awarua applied for a mātaitai reserve along the coastline from the Mokomoko Inlet (southwest of Invercargill) to Cable Bay (west of Bluff). Fisheries New Zealand and Te Rūnanga o Awarua held a public meeting on the application and invited submissions on the proposal.

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.

What was proposed?

The approximate area of the proposed mātaitai reserve included the Mokomoko Inlet (on the south side of the New River Estuary), then extended westwards then southwards around the Ōmāui coastline to Cable Bay (on the opposite side of the ithsmus from Ocean Beach, near Bluff). The proposed reserve extended offshore 0.5 nautical miles and covered 23 square kilometres. It covered those South Island fisheries waters within the following lines:

1. From the starting point on the mean high-water mark at 46°30.517'S and 168°17.621'E; then
2. by a straight line in a north-northwesterly direction for approximately 0.5 nautical miles to a point offshore at 46°29.919'S and 168°17.510'E; then
3. by a line in a generally westerly then south-easterly direction, every point of which is 0.5 nautical miles from the mean high-water mark, to a point offshore at 46°36.228'S and 168°18.133'E; then
4. by a straight line in a north-easterly direction to a point on the mean high-water mark at 46°35.644'S and 168°18.468'E; then
5. by a line in a generally north-westerly then easterly direction along the mean high-water mark to the starting point.

Map of proposed Ōmāui mātaitai reserve

Proposed Ōmāui mātaitai reserve [PDF, 4.3 MB]

Application document

Download a copy of the application [PDF, 486 KB]

Public notices

Public notices about the meeting with the local community and the call for written submissions were scheduled to appear in The Southland Times on: 

• Saturday 28 September 2019.
• Monday 7 October 2019.

A notice was also planned to appear in The Southland Express on Thursday 3 October 2019.

A second consultation was held

After the local community consultation period closed, Fisheries New Zealand held a second consultation. This was for written submissions from persons 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 by the proposed mātaitai reserve.

Find out about the second consultation

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.