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Iwi leaders are pushing for changes to the government’s proposed new marine protected areas policy.
The plan will turn the inner Hauraki Gulf and the Marlborough Sounds into recreational fishing parks with commercial fishers excluded.
Willie Te Aho from the the conservation iwi leadership group says iwi believe the proposals affect their rights confirmed under the Maori fisheries settlement.
That’s why the group is meeting the government agencies involved.
"I think they got the process wrong leading up to the public consultation in January and February. Moving forward is an opportunity to get it right. Certainly the Minister for Conservation, Maggie Barry, at Waitangi and the Iwi Chairs Forum indicated she was supportive of a relationship and working through those issues," he says.
Mr Te Aho says if they can’t get the protections they seek, iwi may initiate court action.
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