History
Aotearoa Fisheries Limited (AFL) had its genesis through a unique pan-iwi agreement and consequently legislation - the passing of the Maori Fisheries Act in September 2004.
Up until 2004, Maori commercial fishing assets were owned and managed by the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission or Te Ohu Kai Moana for the benefit of all Maori. Maori received these assets through an agreement with the Crown in the late 1980s and in the early 1990s to settle historical Treaty of Waitangi breaches by the Crown.
In the mid 1980s, New Zealand's highest courts found that the Crown had not done enough to protect Maori commercial fishing interests since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.
Through negotiation, a proportion of fishing quota in New Zealand's Quota Management System (QMS), shares in fishing companies and cash were subsequently returned to Maori to settle all commercial fishing claims under the Treaty. This was an interim settlement and was enshrined by the Maori Fisheries Act 1989.
In 1992, the opportunity to finalise all commercial fisheries claims under the Treaty was realised when Nelson-based Sealord Products was put up for sale. What is now colloquially known as the "Sealord deal", Maori were provided with $150 million, a part of which was used to buy a half share of Sealord and received a guarantee for future quota. The deal was given effect through the Treaty of Waitangi (Fisheries Claims) Settlement Act 1992, which constituted the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission.
It was the job of the former Fisheries Commission to develop a method by which these fisheries assets were to be equitably shared among all iwi in New Zealand and it embarked on a process that eventually took 12 years and finally concluded in 2004 with the passing of the Maori Fisheries Act.
The Maori Fisheries Act 2004 established AFL and Te Ohu Kaimoana - the former to manage the commercial arm of certain settlement assets into the future and the latter to act as a governance body for those Maori interests in the marine environment.
AFL is made up of a 50% shareholding in Sealord (Nelson) and Prepared Foods Ltd (Palmerston North); and 100% ownership of Moana Pacific Fisheries (Auckland), Chatham Processing (Chatham Islands), Pacific Marine Farms (Coromandel) and Prepared Foods Processing (Palmerston North).
For related information: www.teohu.maori.nz
