Māori Status in New Zealand Law · Jurisdiction Ledger · Part 38 · Current law

How are Māori fisheries rights administered after settlement?

The Māori Fisheries Act 2004 creates a statutory allocation and governance architecture for settlement assets, using iwi, mandated iwi organisations and Māori Land Court dispute mechanisms.

Fisheries illustrates a different kind of jurisdiction: not simply general regulation of individuals, but statutory administration of collectively held settlement assets.

The Māori Fisheries Act 2004 defines iwi, mandated iwi organisations and representative Māori organisations, establishes Te Ohu Kai Moana structures, and directs the allocation and transfer of fisheries settlement assets.

Part 5 provides a dispute-resolution system and permits specified disputes to be referred to the Māori Land Court.

The Act recognises iwi as statutory allocation units.That does not mean Parliament created iwi as peoples. It means the statute chooses iwi and mandated organisations as legal vehicles for administering settlement property and representation.

Jurisdiction claimed overAllocation, governance, transfer and dispute resolution concerning Māori fisheries settlement assets.

Primary instrumentMāori Fisheries Act 2004.

Collective legal actorsIwi, mandated iwi organisations, asset-holding companies, Te Ohu Kai Moana and related entities.

Court interfaceSpecified disputes can be referred to the Māori Land Court under the statutory process.

Here again, the legal system converts collective Māori rights into a defined statutory asset-and-governance architecture without thereby making “iwi” synonymous with a Crown-created corporation.

Primary statuteMāori Fisheries Act 2004.

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