Using Settlement Assets

What water-space rights will be provided and what can iwi do with them?

Most of what will be provided to iwi will be the rights to apply for a marine farming resource consent in a particular part of an Aquaculture Management Area*  (under the new legislation, marine farmers need a resource consent from the relevant council before they can build any farming structures like lines or cages). The possession of these rights gives iwi an opportunity to get into the business of marine farming.

The resource consent, and consent application process, is subject to all Resource Management Act requirements for marine farming, including conditioning of consents, resource consent expiry, and possible coastal occupation charges.

AMAs may also contain areas subject to ‘reservations', due to undue adverse effects on commercial fishing. Iwi will be allocated 20 percent of the rights to apply for resource consents in any such areas but, as with other marine farm developers, they must reach agreement with the affected fisheries's rights holders before these areas can be developed and resource consents obtained.

Iwi can sell their rights (subject to 75 percent agreement of iwi members that vote at a properly constituted meeting), lease them, or use them to develop their own marine farming businesses - either by themselves or in association with other interests.

Alternatively, iwi may choose not to do anything with these rights.

How long do these rights last?

Marine farming resource consents last for a defined time frame, after which they expire. However, where water-space is provided as settlement assets, iwi will retain the right to re-apply for new consents in these areas, so long as their associated Aquaculture Management Area continues to exist.

AMAs exist within the context of a council's Regional Coastal Plan, and these may change over time.

If any future council plan reduces the area of this AMA, and iwi are disproportionately affected - i.e. They end up with less than the previous percentage of rights they held over the region's AMAs - they will be able to seek redress from the Crown.

*After 1 January 2008, the Crown could choose to purchase some existing marine farms to meet any outstanding obligations relating to ‘pre-commencement space'⁴ under the settlement. In these situations, iwi are likely to be provided with the existing resource consent for that area rather than an authorisation to apply.