About Us

"Tiakina te moana o Mai I Nga Kuri a Wharei ki Tihirau"

The Mai I Nga Kuri a Wharei ki Tihirau Customary Fisheries Forum was established in November 2001 by the iwi and hapu of the Bay of Plenty coast, between Waiōroro Stream near Waihi Beach in the west to Cape Runaway in the east.

The Forum was set up in response to the implementation of the Customary Fisheries (Kaimoana) Regulations 1998 as part of the 1992 Fisheries Deed of Settlement and the Treaty of Waitangi (Fisheries Claim) Settlement Act 1992

Tangata whenua of the region descend from the Mataatua, Te Arawa, Horouta, Tainui and Takitimu waka and continue to exercise tino rangatiratanga over their resources in this region. They also exercise kaitiakitanga over all the fisheries resources contained within the region.

The Forum includes representatives of the Tangata Whenua of the region who have an interest in species of fish, aquatic life and seaweed in the Mai i Nga Kuri a Wharei ki Tihirau Customary Fisheries Forum region. The interests are primarily to improve the management of the fisheries resources in the region and to recognize and provide for the use and management practices of Tangata Whenua in those fisheries as required by the 1992 Fisheries Settlement.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Forum and the Ministry of Fisheries on 12 October 2006. This formalizes the relationship between the Forum and the Ministry and forms the basis for an enduring and constructive relationship to further the interest of both parties, in particular the sustainable management of the fisheries resource throughout the region.