Fisheries Commission to assess suggestions

FISHERIES COMMISSION TO ASSESS SUGGESTIONS

The Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission said today it would take the time to assess the suggestions put forward by the group of Iwi calling itself the Iwi Forum.

“The Commission will look at the detail of these suggestions – as we would all comments from Iwi,” the chairman of the Commission, Shane Jones, said today.

The Commission received the suggestions tonight, only following their release to the public and the news media.

Mr Jones said: “Our aim is to achieve a durable allocation of the Fisheries Settlement that delivers a robust commercial performance for all Maori through Iwi at all times. We consider that our allocation proposals do this, but we will look at suggestions that could enhance this and engender an even greater level of support from Iwi and Maori.”

However, Mr Jones stated that there was a need to bring a resolution to this issue now and not let small differences allow it to be dragged along for years.

“Our aim is to gain a pragmatic resolution to this long-running debate in the next few months. Our proposals are out until the end of September and we will look at finalising them soon after that,” he said.

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