He Whakamōhiotanga Kōrero | Third Quarter Report - 1 April - 30 June 2025

Welcome to the third of our quarterly reports for the 2024/25 financial year, reporting our activities against the key priorities and key performance indicators set in this year’s annual plan. This report covers activities that took place from 1 April through to 30 June 2025.

Mana Moana Mana Tangata

Te Ohu Kaimoana hosted a private screening of Mana Moana Mana Tangata, a documentary recording the history of the fisheries settlement, on 10 July in Wellington. The film is produced and directed by Julian Arahanga and Toby Mills and was funded by Te Ohu Kaimoana, Moana New Zealand, Te Wai Māori and Tapuwae Roa in partnership with Te Māngai Pāho and Whakaata Māori.

The event was attended by over 200 people, and was an opportunity to celebrate the achievements and contributions of the individuals and groups who have formed the fisheries settlement infrastructure we see today. The documentary is scheduled to air on Whakaata Māori on 18 August 2025.

28N rights proceedings

On 27 March the High Court released its decision on Te Ohu Kaimoana v Attorney General. That High Court decision found in favour of Te Ohu Kaimoana in our litigation related to 28N rights under the Fisheries Act, and the enforceability of the Deed of Settlement.

The Court has found that the Crown has been in breach of the Fisheries Settlement by way of confiscating settlement quota without compensation and the Court directed that there must be a remedy for that breach by way of redress. The Court did not make any further findings on what should happen in redress discussions, but that they should happen. This means that we expect the Crown to work closely with us to remedy the situation.

• The Crown have appealed the decision: This means that we are back in the court defending the High Court’s decision against the Crown. We have sought a priority fixture, and this was granted. However, due to the intensive Court of Appeal schedule we have been confirmed for a hearing week in June 2026. We have sought for an earlier time if it becomes available.
• This appeal does not mean that the High Court decision is stalled: The findings of the High Court in our favour remain active and legally binding on the Crown despite the new legal proceedings in the Court of Appeal.
• A project to assess loss is underway: Further to the point above regarding the need to discuss redress, Te Ohu Kaimoana is currently embarking on a project that will result in a report that will describe, assess and quantify the value of losses incurred by Te Ohu Kaimoana and Māori as a result of the Crown’s breach of the 1992 Fisheries Settlement relating to the operation of 28N rights.

Alongside this work, Te Ohu Kaimoana is committed to ensuring there is no further loss of fisheries settlement assets in the meantime.

Māori Fisheries Amendment Act 20204 implementation

We engaged extensively with iwi throughout the period on the design of new appointment processes for Aotearoa Fisheries Limited (Moana New Zealand) and Te Ohu Kai Moana Trustee Limited.

This is an important outcome from the implementation of the Māori Fisheries Amendment Act 2024, and will require further feedback from iwi throughout the year as options are refined.

Tangaroa Hinemoana Iwi Leaders Group (Oceans ILG)

Te Ohu Kaimoana (as the secretariat) continues to support the Tangaroa Hinemoana Iwi Leaders Group (Formerly known as Oceans ILG), which is reforming following a change in co-chairs.

The National Iwi Chairs Forum held in Tūranga in early July noted the two new co-chairs and encouraged iwi to put forward technicians to contribute to the kaupapa.

To find out more about what our team has been up to this quarter, you can read the full report here.