We have it on good authority that commercial fishing interests are considering a legal challenge over Mataitai. These are supposed to be small discreet areas set aside for customary harvest for Maori. Maori have the management authority over these marine areas.
There are two issues. the Mataitai are not so discreet - the areas applied for are getting much larger than the " feed " areas they were originally designed for.
Secondly, there is a groundswell of opinion in the fisheries legal ranks that the legislation has been wrongly interpreted by Maori and that they cannot exclude commercial fishing.
If what we are hearing is correct then we could see a shit fight that is as big as the Foreshore and Seabed debate.
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