Nick Smith

Wellington, March 24 NZPA - South Island and Coromandel iwi will receive a $97 million aquaculture settlement under legislation passed by Parliament today.

The settlement was signed in May last year and covers all the Crown's obligations for aquaculture space that was approved between September 1992 and December 2004 under the previous marine farming regime.

Acting Fisheries Minister Nick Smith said the agreement covered the vast majority of New Zealand's current aquaculture development areas.

"The original settlement was based on Maori getting a share of new aquaculture space to make up for that which they had not acquired historically, but the process for providing this space failed," Dr Smith said.

"This cash settlement has been used to resolve this issue."

Dr Smith said it was a ground-breaking settlement, with so many iwi coming together to negotiate a single agreement across much of the country.

"The passage of this bill resolved the historical problem, but the real challenge ahead is to reform our aquaculture laws so the industry can grow and provide increased jobs and wealth for New Zealand," he said.

The Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Bill passed its third reading on a unanimous vote, with iwi representatives in Parliament's public galleries.

Ngai Tahu spokesman Mark Solomon said there had been a historical level of cooperation between 11 iwi, who developed a fair estimate of their entitlements.