NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 99 — 27 SEPTEMBER 2017

[29] In other words, the taiapure regime is focussed on promoting what the Muriwhenua Fishing Tribunal identified as the role of rangatira in the guardianship or stewardship of resources such as fisheries. In Māori terms, that is the kaitiaki role within rangatiratanga. There are two further qualifiers of the scope of that rangatiratanga in the Act. First, the taiapure regime is only concerned with fisheries that are of “special significance” to particular iwi or hapū. Second, the “local Māori community” has the key role in nominating the committee of management that then carries out the kaitiaki role under the Act. I return to these points when I discuss the inter-iwi issues.

“Littoral coastal waters”

[30] A taiapure may be declared in respect of any area of “New Zealand fisheries waters (which waters are estuarine waters or littoral coastal waters)”. The present taiapure proposal does not relate to estuarine waters. The meaning of “littoral coastal waters” has been discussed in relation to several previous taiapure proposals and I quote extensively from three of these discussions.

[31] Judge Carter addressed the meaning of littoral coastal waters in three separate reports on taiapure proposals. In his report on the Whakapuaka Taiapure proposal he summarised his view:

The question as to the size of a taiapure and the meaning of estuarine or littoral coastal waters have been argued before me in some detail in two previous applications; the Manukau Taiapure and the Kawhia-Aotea Taiapure. It is my understanding that the former report has yet to be released by the Minister but that the latter report was gazetted in the New Zealand Gazette, 12 August 1999, No. 94 at page 2239.

In light of my findings in those reports, I do not see the present taiapure as being outside the contemplation of the Act. The area is clearly discernible by reference to landmarks. It is a relatively small area of coastal waters running along the coast between those landmarks. In my view those areas, which were once rich in fish life, are of a special significance to Ngāti Tama and constitute a taiapure-local fishery under the intent of the Act.

In the Manukau Taiapure Report, I summarised my findings as to the meaning of littoral coastal waters as follows:

“I have already determined that coastal waters applies to the waters along the entire coastline of New Zealand and the word ‘littoral’ qualifies their breadth or extent.

While littoral can mean between high and low watermark, it would make a nonsense of the legislation to apply this meaning. In this regard I prefer the meaning which relates to of or pertaining to the shore of the sea or adjacent to the shore. In this regard the littoral zone would comprise mostly shallow waters where the effect of tidal phenomena and currents is apparent. It would generally include those areas which have been significantly rich in sea life.

I would be loathe to prescribe a finite limit on how far a littoral zone or region might extend. To be constituted a taiapure the fishery must be of special significance. Reefs, islands and other landmarks might well play a part in interpreting whether a particular area fell within the littoral coastal area.”**

There is nothing in the submissions of the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council which would lead me to reverse those findings. (emphasis added)

[32] In Sea-Right Investments v The Minister of Fisheries¹⁰ Ronald Young J of the High Court addressed the meaning of littoral coastal waters in some detail:

[13] The addition of the word “littoral” seems to be intended to further define coastal waters. Regretfully “littoral” does not have one clear meaning. Definitions in both general and scientific dictionaries describe littoral as referring either to the area between the high and low water mark, or to an area of or pertaining or adjacent to the sea shore. It can occasionally mean an area extending to the edge of the continental shelf.

I set out below some of the definitions provided in both general and technical dictionaries of the word “littoral”.

Definitions

a. Penguin Dictionary of Geography
Audrey N. Clark
London 1998

littoral zone variously applied to 1. the aquatic zone between the marks of HIGH WATER and LOW WATER 2. in biology the upper part of the BENTHIC DIVISION from the water surface to a depth of about 200m (110 fathoms: 655 ft) 3. The part of the benthic division favourable to the growth of green plants.

littoral adj. of, on, or along, the shore, whether of sea, lake or river.