Te Ohu Kaimoana Appoints Chief Executive

Te Ohu Kaimoana Appoints Chief Executive

The board of Te Ohu Kaimoana (Māori Fisheries Trust) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Dion Tuuta (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, Taranaki) to the role of Chief Executive and to take the Māori Fisheries Settlement into a new era.

Mr Tuuta is currently chief executive of Parininihi ki Waitotara Incorporation, a Māori-owned primary industry group with interests in farming and seafood, as well as other investments – a role he has been in since 2008.

He was directly involved in the establishment of the Port Nicholson Fisheries Limited Partnership, which is a collective of over 20 iwi lobster quota owners, PKW and Moana (formerly Aotearoa Fisheries), one of the Māori Fisheries Settlement entities. He serves as the chairman of the Partnership.

Mr Tuuta has experience in Treaty Settlements as Ngāti Mutunga Iwi Authority’s chief negotiator from 2002 to 2006 and led the establishment of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Mutunga’s administration base in 2008.

In 2006, he was policy manager at Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry of Māori Development), responsible for the Ministry’s Treaty Settlements Unit and Foreshore and Seabed Teams providing advice to the Minister of Māori Affairs on iwi mandating and representation. He has been involved in a number of government consultation processes, most recently as a member of the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act Review Panel in 2012.

Mr Tuuta is well-suited to the role to which he has been appointed and has the requisite experience and skills to complete the restructuring process that began more than 12 months ago. The board is confident Mr Tuuta will be able to usher in the new era for Te Ohu Kaimoana, as agreed by iwi, to provide high-level, responsive and accurate fisheries management and aquaculture advice and advocacy, and an ongoing contribution to iwi economic development.

As well as the restructuring process, Mr Tuuta will help ensure that iwi and Māori fishing rights are protected from being extinguished or expropriated through Government proposals such as the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary or Marine Protected Areas.

Mr Tuuta will take up the position in July.

ENDS

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