Commercial imperatives dictate Maori fishing deal

By Jock Anderson

Friday 23rd August 2002

Hard-talking Fisheries Commission chairman Shane Jones warned yesterday the Maori fisheries settlement allocation plan will either fail or flourish depending on its economic performance, not on cultural cant.

"The settlement's durability will be achieved on an economic basis," he said.

The commission last week announced its long-awaited plan for the allocation to Maori of more than $700 million worth of Maori commercial fisheries assets.

Amid due pomp and ceremony the announcement came at the end of 10 years' exhaustive deliberation, hamstrung by often bitter argument and years of costly legal wrangles, some of which went all the way to the Privy Council and back.

It is estimated the commission has spent nearly $10 million defending legal action while an NZIER report estimated the economic opportunity loss to Maori was $1 million a month.

A three-year-old High Court injunction preventing the commission making an allocation proposal to the minister of fisheries was lifted only days before last week's announcement.

Almost immediately the model was challenged by the biggest iwi, Nga Puhi, which stands to gain about $60 million, and Ngai Tahu, which can expect the biggest share worth about $80 million.

Among their concerns is the commission's plan to retain half of the assets within a new corporate creation Aotearoa Fisheries (AFL) which would become New Zealand's biggest fishing company.

The commission says AFL would initially account for almost 39% of the $1.5 billion annual earnings of the fishing industry.

Already economically successful and business-wise, Ngai Tahu wants to be able to do its own thing without being tied to Aotearoa Fisheries' apron strings.

Mr Jones is confident the concerns of Ngai Tahu, Nga Puhi and any other iwi can be worked through without long-term delays or resorting to yet another round of expensive court action.

As he laconically put it: "If we reach a point where all parties are equally dissatisfied we'll have the basis for going forward."

Mr Jones said Maori had the first and last opportunity to agree among themselves and to bring about swift closure to the fisheries settlement issue.

If there was no closure he feared legislative interference by politicians who were cynical about the purpose and worth of the treaty settlement process.

The commission proposes that millions of dollars worth of fisheries quota, cash and shares be returned to iwi, as well as the creation of Aotearoa Fisheries, to provide long-term benefits to all Maori.

The plan is for AFL to be wholly Maori-owned and to hold the most fisheries assets in New Zealand.

Mr Jones said AFL would compete strongly in the competitive seafood industry, both domestically and internationally, and provide employment for Maori and annual dividends to iwi.

He was confident iwi would receive a share of "potentially millions of dollars each year on top of the millions of dollars associated with owning significant amounts of fishing quota."

AFL would aim to expand the percentage of Maori employed in Maori-owned fishing companies through the companies it would control Sealord Group, Moana Pacific Fisheries, Prepared Foods Group, Pacific Marine Farms and Chatham Processing Group which collectively employ 3000 staff, a quarter of whom are of Maori descent.

Mr Jones said the earnings record of the commission in the time it had managed the five fishing companies was impressive.

"We have grown the settlement assets by a compounded annual rate of 8.8% after tax. This increases to 14.9% if distribution to iwi through the annual lease rounds are included," he said.

Maori who live in cities or outside their tribal area will have access to a $20 million fund a "putea trust" aimed at increasing the range of skilled and qualified Maori able to participate in all levels of the seafood industry.

Under the proposals each iwi will receive at least $1 million from the fisheries settlement.

Mr Jones signalled that following the creation of AFL the fishing industry could expect a "shakeup."

"In the future AFL would try to establish strategic alliances, joint ventures and joint shareholdings with other players in the fishing business," he said.

"But the commission will not open up the quota for trade in the entire fisheries quota market, as some in the industry expect."

"The quota is conceived by us as a legacy and there will be considerable trade opportunities with Maoridom. But we will not be creating a system where the quota can be alienated out of Maori ownership into non-Maori ownership."

He said there were no immediate plans to acquire shares in other fishing companies such as Sanford but it was inevitable that greater consolidation of ownership would take place in the future.

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