Waatea News: Māori Radio Station

E ai ki te Wehengarua, arā, te PPTA, tokonui ngā rangatahi ka pāngia e te pūnaha tohu mātauranga hou a te Kāwanatanga. Ko te māharahara, ka nui ake ngā rangatahi ka kore e whai i ngā tohu mātauranga.

Hei tā te Perehitini Māori tuarua i Te Hāpai ō o te Wehengarua, hei tā Te Aomihia Taua-Glassie, tata ki te 15,000 ngā ākonga ka kore pea e whiwhi tohu i ia tau, ā, ko ngā ākonga Māori me ngā ākonga Pasifika ngā rōpū ka tino pāngia e tēnei āhuatanga.

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Kātahi anō a Te Matapihi, arā, tētahi kaitaunaki i ngā kaupapa whare Māori, ka hoki mai i tētahi haerenga ki Inia, he haerenga ki te tūhura i ētahi atu ara hei whakawhānui ake i te titiro ki ngā take whare, ki ngā āhuatanga hangarau me te auahatanga anō hoki.

Tokowaru i haere ki te hui tahi ki ētahi mātanga whare, kamupene hangarau, whare wānanga me ngā kāporeihana kāwanatanga o Inia.

E whai ake nei ko te whānuitanga o ngā kōrero nā te Tumuaki Takirua o Te Matapihi, nā Nanaia Mahuta.

The post Nanaia Mahuta | Te Matapihi ki Inia, he haerenga tūhura i ngā ara e whanake ai ngā kaupapa whare Māori. appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

I whakarewahia e ngā iwi e waru o Taranaki, arā, te Tōpuni Ngārahu, tētahi kaupapa hou, ko The Landline te ingoa. He kaupapa tēnei hei akiaki i ngā whānau o te takiwā kia rēhita, kia pōti hoki i te kōwhiringa pōti ā-motu o tēnei tau.

Hei tā te Pouwhakarae o te Tōpuni Ngārahu, a Wharehoka Wano, ahakoa kāore pea tēnei reanga e mōhio ki tēnei mea e kīia nei ko te ‘Landline’, ko te matū o te kaupapa, he whakawhātoro i te aka kūmara kia tae atu te karere akiaki i te pōti ki ngā whānau huhua o te takiwā.

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I puta te oati a Te Rōpū Kākāriki, e mea ana, ki te tū rātou hei āpitihanga i te Kāwanatanga hou, ka whakapaua te 200 miriona tāra ki ngā kaupapa reo Māori.

E 30 miriona tāra ia tau ka ahu atu ki ngā kaupapa whakawhanake i ngā kaiako, whakawhanake hoki i ngā kaimahi, ā, 20 miriona tāra ki Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori me Te Mātāwai.

E whai ake nei ko te whānuitanga o ngā whakamārama nā te Kaiarataki takirua i Te Rōpū Kākāriki, nā Marama Davidson.

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Kei te ahu atu ngā kaieke hoihō o Ngāti Kahungunu ki Pāremata, mā runga hōiho.

I wehe atu i Waimārama Marae i te Paraire ka hipa, ā, tahi te tira haere ka hipa i a Whakaoriori. Ko te whāinga, ka tae atu ki Pāremata āpōpō ki te tuku i te pētihana ki te Mema Pāremata mō Ikaroa Rāwhiti, ki a Cushla Tangaere-Manuel.

Ko te whāinga, ko te whai kia 50 mano ngā waitohu hei tohu tautoko i te pētihana, ā, kei te takiwā o te 44 mano ngā waitohu i tēnei wā nei. Ko te matū o te pētihana, kia kaua te Kāwanatanga e whakakore, e whakangoikore rānei i ngā tohutoro ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi me ōna mātāpono i roto i ngā ture o Aotearoa.

E whai ake nei ko tētahi hopunga nō te pāhotanga mataora nā te kaikōkiri o te kaupapa nei, nā Bayden Barber.

The post Bayden Barber | Ngā Kaieke Hōiho o Ngāti Kahungunu e Ahu Atu ana ki Pāremata. appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

The debate over Māori and Pacific pathways into medical school is ultimately a debate about who becomes a doctor, where they choose to practise and whether Aotearoa can build a health workforce capable of addressing generations of inequity, according to senior Māori health academic and clinician Dr Matthew Wheeler.

Wheeler has emerged as an important voice in the debate surrounding Māori and Pacific medical admissions, arguing decisions about targeted entry pathways should be driven by evidence, workforce need and health outcomes, rather than political rhetoric.

The controversy centres on programmes designed to increase the number of Māori and Pacific health professionals, including the University of Auckland’s Māori and Pacific Admission Scheme, MAPAS.

With a Government review of MAPAS remaining behind closed doors, questions about the future of targeted medical admissions are becoming increasingly politically charged.

At the heart of the argument is a persistent problem within New Zealand healthcare — Māori remain underrepresented within parts of the health workforce while Māori communities continue to experience poorer health outcomes.

Supporters of targeted admissions argue that increasing the number of Māori doctors is therefore not simply an education policy.

It is a health workforce strategy.

Wheeler has argued the evidence needs to be examined when assessing whether pathways such as MAPAS are working and whether graduates subsequently contribute to addressing workforce shortages and inequitable health outcomes.

That includes examining where graduates work, the communities they serve and whether increasing workforce diversity improves access and care for populations that have historically been underserved.

Targeted university admission schemes have repeatedly faced criticism from those who argue entry into highly competitive medical programmes should be determined primarily through academic performance.

But the competing argument is that defining merit solely through grades can ignore the purpose of medical training itself — producing a workforce capable of meeting the healthcare needs of the population.

For Māori health advocates, the question is therefore not whether academic standards should exist.

It is whether admission systems should recognise the wider evidence around health inequity, workforce representation and the needs of communities experiencing the poorest outcomes.

Wheeler’s position places evidence at the centre of that decision rather than assuming either targeted pathways or a single universal admissions system automatically produces the best outcome.

The Government review has added another layer to the controversy because its findings have not yet been made public.

Pacific Media Network has reported growing calls for transparency as debate intensifies over the contribution Māori and Pacific doctors make to the health system and the future of admission pathways designed to increase their numbers.

That matters because any significant change could influence the composition of the medical workforce for years to come.

Medical training takes years, meaning decisions made about admissions today can shape who is available to work in hospitals, general practice and communities well into the next decade.

For Māori, the argument also sits inside the wider challenge of hauora equity.

Māori continue to experience substantial disparities across major health indicators, while rural and provincial communities face their own difficulties recruiting and retaining doctors.

Increasing the Māori health workforce has long been regarded by Māori health leaders as one part of addressing those disparities.

A Māori doctor does not exclusively treat Māori patients, and ethnicity alone does not determine the quality of a clinician.

But advocates of workforce diversity argue representation, cultural understanding and stronger connections with communities can form important parts of a health system capable of serving its entire population.

As Election 2026 approaches, the future of Māori and Pacific medical admissions risks becoming another ideological dividing line.

Wheeler’s intervention presents a different test.

What does the evidence show?

If targeted pathways are producing qualified doctors, increasing Māori and Pacific representation, strengthening the workforce and helping meet unmet health needs, those outcomes should form part of any decision about their future.

If changes are proposed, the same standard should apply — evidence should demonstrate they will produce something better.

Because ultimately the argument is not simply about who gets through the doors of medical school.

It is about who walks through the doors of our hospitals, clinics and hauora services as doctors in the years ahead — and whether the workforce Aotearoa builds is capable of delivering better outcomes for every community it serves.

#DrMatthewWheeler #MAPAS #MāoriDoctors #PacificDoctors #MedicalSchool #MedicalAdmissions #HauoraMāori #MāoriHealth #HealthEquity #HealthWorkforce #WorkforceEquity #Doctors #MedicalEducation #UniversityOfAuckland #MāoriStudents #PacificStudents #RangatahiMāori #Hauora #TeTiritiOWaitangi #Election2026 #HealthPolicy #Whānau #TeAoMāori #Aotearoa #MāoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post WHO GETS TO BECOME A DOCTOR? DR MATTHEW WHEELER PUTS EVIDENCE AT CENTRE OF MĀORI MEDICAL ADMISSIONS DEBATE appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Te Pāti Māori President John Tamihere joins Waatea as Election 2026 enters a crucial phase, with the party campaigning on a major redistribution of the tax burden, a stronger constitutional role for Te Tiriti o Waitangi and a strategy aimed at maximising Māori representation in the next Parliament.

The contest is becoming increasingly stark. Te Pāti Māori is proposing significant structural change around tax and Te Tiriti, while ACT is campaigning for a fundamentally different constitutional direction and has unveiled a party list that could bring broadcaster Paul Henry into Parliament on current polling.

For Tamihere, the bigger question is whether Māori voters see this election as simply choosing a government — or an opportunity to reshape where political and economic power sits in Aotearoa.

Te Pāti Māori has put household finances at the centre of its economic pitch with its Kiwi Tax Plan, saying the wealthiest 3 percent should contribute more while almost everybody else receives tax relief.

Its centrepiece is making the first $30,000 of personal income tax-free.

The party estimates about 4.2 million people would receive around $4,000 more each year as a result of its proposed changes. People earning $60,000 or less would also receive a targeted kai tax credit equivalent to eight weeks each year.

The plan would introduce a progressive wealth tax beginning at 1.5 percent on net assets between $2 million and $5 million, rising to 2 percent between $5 million and $10 million and 2.5 percent above $10 million.

Te Pāti Māori argues the policy is not about Māori against non-Māori but shifting more of the tax burden away from ordinary working households and towards those with substantial wealth.

That puts it directly against National, which has campaigned on no new taxes, while Labour and the Greens are proposing their own forms of capital and wealth taxation.

But tax is only one side of the argument.

Te Pāti Māori is also campaigning for a much stronger constitutional recognition of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tino rangatiratanga and Māori political authority.

That puts the party on a collision course with ACT.

ACT’s election policy proposes removing vague or high-level Treaty clauses as legislation is amended, restricting when tikanga can influence court decisions and requiring governments to spell out the specific obligations created whenever Treaty references are included in new legislation.

ACT also wants Parliament’s sovereignty, the rule of law and equality before the law written as principles into the Constitution Act.

Te Pāti Māori approaches the constitutional debate from almost the opposite direction, arguing Te Tiriti provides the foundation for the relationship between Māori and the Crown and should carry greater practical force within government and law.

That creates one of the clearest choices facing Māori voters this election.

The divide has widened further with ACT proposing that the Waitangi Tribunal ultimately be disestablished after eligible historical claims have been completed, while its ability to investigate contemporary Crown actions would end.

That proposal is likely to feature heavily in Tamihere’s election argument.

The Tribunal was created in 1975 with jurisdiction over contemporary Crown actions, with its ability to investigate historical claims retrospectively back to 1840 added in 1985.

For Te Pāti Māori, the contemporary jurisdiction matters because the party argues breaches of Te Tiriti are not confined to history.

ACT sees the issue differently, arguing Treaty interpretation and tikanga have been allowed to expand too far into government and the courts. Its wider constitutional policy would restrict the ability of unelected institutions to shape those interpretations.

The political contest is also becoming a numbers game.

ACT’s newly announced party list means Paul Henry could enter Parliament depending on the party’s election-night support, adding another high-profile figure to an already sharply contested campaign.

For Te Pāti Māori, that makes its own electoral strategy particularly important.

The party has made clear it wants Māori voters to concentrate their electorate vote on Te Pāti Māori candidates, while giving voters greater freedom with their party vote as part of a broader strategy to increase the parliamentary strength of the left bloc.

That is an unusual strategy, but the mathematics are deliberate.

Winning Māori electorates can potentially increase the party’s representation independently of its share of the nationwide party vote.

For John Tamihere, Election 2026 brings together several battles Te Pāti Māori has been fighting simultaneously.

Who carries the greatest share of the tax burden?

How much constitutional force should Te Tiriti have?

Should the Waitangi Tribunal continue examining contemporary Crown decisions?

And can Māori use the electoral system strategically to increase their political representation?

The answers offered by Te Pāti Māori and ACT could hardly be further apart.

One is campaigning for greater recognition of Te Tiriti, tino rangatiratanga and redistribution of wealth. The other is campaigning to constrain Treaty clauses and tikanga within the law and strengthen the principle of equal treatment under a single legal framework.

For Tamihere, that means the remaining weeks of the campaign are about more than winning seats.

They are about convincing Māori that Election 2026 could determine the direction of Te Tiriti, taxation and Māori political power for years to come.

#JohnTamihere #TePātiMāori #Election2026 #MāoriVote #MāoriSeats #KiwiTaxPlan #TaxPolicy #WealthTax #CostOfLiving #Whānau #MāoriEconomy #TeTiritiOWaitangi #TinoRangatiratanga #ManaMotuhake #WaitangiTribunal #ACTParty #DavidSeymour #PaulHenry #MāoriPolitics #NZPolitics #ElectionNZ #Aotearoa #TeAoMāori #MāoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post TAMIHERE: TAX, TE TIRITI AND THE BATTLE FOR MĀORI POLITICAL POWER appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson joins Waatea as Election 2026 enters its final stretch, with the Greens putting affordable kai, health equity, environmental protection and greater participation in democracy at the centre of their campaign.

With less than two months until polling day, the Greens are presenting voters with an increasingly interventionist programme — including restoring and expanding free school lunches, creating a publicly owned supermarket competitor, strengthening public healthcare and putting greater protection around the natural environment.

The party’s 2026 manifesto is built around three priorities: affordable living, healthy nature and real democracy, alongside a commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Davidson has put food insecurity firmly into the campaign through a Green commitment to restore and permanently fund Ka Ora, Ka Ako.

The party wants school lunches again provided through schools or local providers, with the programme expanded to approximately 400 additional schools and another 150,000 children.

The Greens argue school lunches are not simply about feeding hungry children. They link the programme to educational achievement, whānau wellbeing, local employment and supporting food producers.

The party says around one in five children live in households that run out of food, making access to nutritious kai a wider question of child poverty and household income.

For Māori communities, the proposal could also reopen opportunities for iwi, Māori organisations and local providers to play a greater role in delivering kai to tamariki.

The Greens are also proposing one of the most dramatic interventions in New Zealand’s grocery market in decades.

Their Affordable Kai policy would establish KiwiMart, a publicly owned supermarket chain intended to compete directly with Foodstuffs and Woolworths.

The proposal would involve acquiring at least 120 existing supermarket stores and capacity from two distribution centres, with Parliamentary Library modelling obtained by the Greens estimating acquisition costs of about $1.3 billion. The party proposes another $1.5 billion to capitalise KiwiMart.

The Greens argue decades of attempts to encourage greater competition have failed and government should now be prepared to become the third major supermarket player itself.

Critics will inevitably question the cost, commercial risk and whether a government-owned supermarket could genuinely drive prices down.

For Davidson, the political test is much closer to home — what is left in a whānau wallet after buying the week’s kai.

Hauora is another significant battleground.

Davidson has been pushing for greater investment in the public health workforce, affordable dental care and a health system that delivers more equitable outcomes for Māori.

The Greens have criticised health vacancies remaining unfilled while hospitals and frontline services remain under pressure and support guaranteed employment for nursing graduates alongside further workforce investment.

The party also continues to support universal publicly accessible dental care.

For whānau Māori, Davidson’s argument is that equality of access on paper is not enough if cost, geography, workforce shortages or culturally unsafe services still prevent people receiving treatment when they need it.

Environmental protection is also becoming increasingly politically contested.

The Greens’ Drink Swim Fish programme proposes stronger protections for freshwater, rivers, beaches and oceans, while the party has opposed aspects of the Government’s conservation reforms.

Davidson has argued that healthy communities and a healthy natural environment cannot be separated.

That position has particular significance for Māori where debates over conservation intersect with kaitiakitanga, whenua, wai, mahinga kai, customary rights and rangatiratanga.

It also comes as arguments intensify around bottom trawling, mining, freshwater quality, development and the use of conservation land.

The future of welfare is also moving rapidly up the election agenda.

The recent MSD Winter Energy Payment failure has sharpened scrutiny of how decisions affecting beneficiaries and pensioners are made, while political parties are offering markedly different approaches to welfare obligations and income support.

For the Greens, welfare policy sits inside a broader argument about poverty and whether government systems should primarily provide security or impose greater obligations and sanctions.

Davidson has also highlighted worsening child poverty, with the party pointing to 169,300 children experiencing material hardship as evidence that significantly greater intervention is required.

Perhaps one of the most unpredictable elements of Election 2026 is whether younger voters turn out.

Unemployment and underemployment are particularly severe among rangatahi. Recent Stats NZ figures put underutilisation among 15 to 24-year-olds at 37 percent, while unemployment has become one of the leading concerns among younger voters.

Historically, younger and lower-income New Zealanders have voted at lower rates than older voters.

But there are signs economic pressure may be driving greater political engagement, making enrolment and turnout potentially decisive for parties such as the Greens.

For Māori voters, participation carries another dimension as parties compete not only for the Māori electorates but also for the crucial party vote.

There is a common thread running through much of Davidson’s election pitch.

The Greens argue government should be prepared to intervene more aggressively when existing systems fail to deliver.

In groceries, that means KiwiMart.

In schools, it means permanently funded nutritious lunches.

In healthcare, it means stronger public provision and addressing inequity.

For the environment, it means stronger protections for the places and ecosystems the party believes are being put at risk.

And in democracy, the Greens are arguing that political and economic power needs to sit closer to communities, with Te Tiriti and rangatiratanga embedded within that approach.

Other political parties will strongly contest the cost, scale and role of government contained in that programme.

But as Marama Davidson joins Waatea, the questions facing Māori voters are becoming increasingly immediate.

Can whānau afford the weekly kai? Can they see a doctor or dentist when they need one? Who protects the whenua and moana? What happens when people need welfare support? And, perhaps most importantly, will enough of us turn up and vote to determine what happens next?

#MaramaDavidson #GreenParty #Election2026 #AffordableKai #KiwiMart #SchoolLunches #KaOraKaAko #Tamariki #Rangatahi #Hauora #MāoriHealth #HealthEquity #Welfare #CostOfLiving #FoodSecurity #Supermarkets #Taiao #Kaitiakitanga #Environment #TeTiritiOWaitangi #Rangatiratanga #Whenua #Moana #MāoriVote #EnrolToVote #Whānau #NZPolitics #TeAoMāori #Aotearoa #MāoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post MARAMA DAVIDSON: KAI, HAUORA, TAIAO AND THE VOTE — GREENS PUT WHĀNAU AT CENTRE OF ELECTION PITCH appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

New Zealand’s largest union organisation is putting working people firmly into the Election 2026 debate, warning rising unemployment, falling real wages and cost-of-living pressures are leaving many whānau struggling to keep their heads above water.

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, representing more than 370,000 workers, has launched its election push alongside a Briefing to the Incoming Government calling for stronger employment protections, sector-wide bargaining, restored pay equity and major economic reform.

NZCTU President Sandra Grey says the experiences being reported by workers show the economic pressure has moved well beyond household belt-tightening.

She says unions are hearing about parents skipping meals so their tamariki can eat and grandparents unable to have mokopuna stay because they cannot afford the additional food. Families are also withdrawing children from weekend sport because household budgets can no longer stretch far enough.

The union campaign comes with unemployment sitting at an 11-year high, with 171,000 New Zealanders unemployed.

NZCTU argues the economic recovery has failed to reach many working households and says stronger collective bargaining is needed to rebuild wages.

The Council wants Fair Pay Agreements restored, allowing minimum employment conditions to be negotiated across industries rather than solely workplace by workplace.

Pay equity is another major priority.

The Government’s 2025 changes extinguished 33 active pay equity claims covering more than 150,000 workers, with NZCTU identifying care and support workers as a priority should a new government restore the previous system.

The Council also wants 90-day trial periods abolished.

Grey has also taken direct aim at Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, arguing many working people regard him as disconnected from the financial realities confronting ordinary households.

Luxon has rejected the criticism and accused unions and Labour of effectively being aligned politically.

NZCTU is preparing an advertising campaign later this month as part of its election strategy, following a similar campaign targeting Luxon during the 2023 election.

That makes clear the union movement will not simply publish policy proposals during this campaign. It intends to actively challenge the record of the current Government.

The Council is also putting Te Tiriti o Waitangi firmly inside its workers agenda.

NZCTU has condemned ACT’s proposal to eventually disestablish the Waitangi Tribunal and remove its jurisdiction over contemporary Crown actions.

NZCTU Vice President Māori Aubrey Wilkinson says the continuing disparities experienced by Māori workers demonstrate why contemporary Te Tiriti accountability remains relevant.

The Council points to higher Māori unemployment, pay disparities and higher levels of poverty among Māori rangatahi as examples of inequities that are happening now rather than belonging solely to the past.

ACT takes a fundamentally different position, arguing the Tribunal’s contemporary role has become too expansive and proposing it concentrate on completing eligible historical claims before being wound up.

The Tribunal was established in 1975 with jurisdiction over contemporary Crown actions, with its ability to retrospectively examine claims dating back to 1840 added in 1985.

For kaimahi Māori, the combination of unemployment, wages, employment rights and Te Tiriti makes this election particularly significant.

The union movement argues collective bargaining can help narrow both gender and ethnic pay gaps.

Earlier this year NZCTU also highlighted OECD findings showing real earnings for New Zealand workers had fallen 6.4 percent since 2021, which the Council says strengthens the case for rebuilding collective bargaining.

For whānau, those national statistics ultimately translate into much more immediate questions.

Is there enough money for kai after the rent or mortgage is paid? Can the power bill be covered? Can tamariki still play weekend sport? And if someone loses their job, how quickly can they find another one?

NZCTU’s agenda extends beyond employment law.

Its Briefing to the Incoming Government includes proposals for a Minister for Just Transitions, a Ministry of Green Works, bringing the three major gentailers back into full public ownership, a capital gains tax and wider tax reform.

The Council argues New Zealand needs an economy that delivers secure jobs, decent incomes, affordable housing and properly funded public services.

That is the union movement’s prescription, and political parties on the centre-right will contest significant parts of it, particularly greater regulation, taxation and state ownership.

With less than two months until Election Day, the union movement is making clear it intends to be an active participant in the campaign.

Its message combines wages and workplace rights with broader questions about inequality, public services, taxation and Te Tiriti.

The political argument over whether the Government is responsible for the hardship described by NZCTU will continue.

But with 171,000 people unemployed and hundreds of thousands of union members preparing to vote, the economic experience of working households is likely to be difficult for any political party to ignore.

For kaimahi Māori in particular, Election 2026 is increasingly becoming about more than who forms the next Government. It is about jobs, wages, whānau security, Te Tiriti and whether the economy working people help build is also working for them.

#NZCTU #TeKauaeKaimahi #SandraGrey #AubreyWilkinson #KaimahiMāori #MāoriWorkers #WorkersRights #FairPayAgreements #PayEquity #Unemployment #Jobs #CostOfLiving #Wages #TeTiritiOWaitangi #WaitangiTribunal #ACTParty #ChristopherLuxon #CollectiveBargaining #Whānau #Tamariki #Mokopuna #MāoriEconomy #Election2026 #NZPolitics #Aotearoa #TeAoMāori #MāoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post WORKERS DRAW AN ELECTION LINE: NZCTU DEMANDS BETTER WAGES, TE TIRITI PROTECTION AND A FAIRER ECONOMY appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

New fisheries data showing commercial trawlers reported hauling up more than 35 tonnes of protected coral and sponges from New Zealand waters over six and a half years has reignited the debate over the environmental cost of bottom trawling.

Data released by the Ministry for Primary Industries shows 35,640 kilograms of coral and sponges were reported as bycatch between October 2019 and March 2026. Greenpeace Aotearoa and the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition say the numbers strengthen the case for protecting seamounts and other vulnerable deep-sea habitats from bottom trawling.

The Chatham Rise, east of the South Island, recorded the largest share, with around 20 tonnes of seabed bycatch — nearly 60 percent of the total.

The Sub-Antarctic and South East fisheries areas were also among the locations recording significant bycatch.

These areas include seamounts and other deep-sea features capable of supporting corals, sponges and diverse marine ecosystems.

Greenpeace says the figures challenge industry arguments that encounters with coral are rare or that fishing vessels avoid important coral habitats.

The fishing industry has previously defended bottom trawling as an important part of New Zealand’s commercial seafood sector and has emphasised the relatively limited geographical footprint of trawling.

MPI says the bottom-trawl footprint during the 2024-25 fishing year covered 1.7 percent of New Zealand’s combined Territorial Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone, and around 5 percent of fishable area. Around 31 percent of the EEZ is prohibited to bottom trawling.

Environmental groups argue the weight recovered in fishing nets cannot measure the entire physical impact on the seabed.

Greenpeace and the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition say coral can be damaged or broken by fishing gear without being hauled to the surface and subsequently recorded as bycatch.

Their estimate suggests the physical amount of coral affected could potentially be far greater than the 35.6 tonnes actually recorded in nets, although those higher estimates are an environmental-group calculation rather than a direct MPI measurement of destroyed coral.

The latest figures also follow longer-term research highlighting repeated encounters between trawlers and protected corals.

A previous NIWA report prepared for the Department of Conservation documented more than 13,400 recorded incidents involving protected coral bycatch over 35 years, including encounters around seamounts and other underwater features.

Unlike shallow tropical reefs, some deep-water corals grow extremely slowly.

Environmental groups say individual corals can survive for hundreds or even thousands of years, while the structures they create provide habitat for other marine life.

That makes the argument over bottom trawling about more than the number of tonnes brought back aboard fishing vessels.

The central question is whether areas known to contain vulnerable ecosystems should remain available to a fishing technique involving nets and heavy equipment being towed along or close to the seabed.

Bottom trawling also remains deeply embedded in New Zealand’s commercial fishing industry.

MPI says approximately 68 percent of fish caught by volume in New Zealand is taken by trawling on or within one metre of the seabed.

That means proposals for further restrictions inevitably raise questions about jobs, seafood exports and the economies of coastal communities.

But environmental campaigners argue protecting sensitive habitats does not require shutting down the entire fishing industry.

Greenpeace points to information presented during a 2022 government process suggesting closing all seamounts in New Zealand waters would reduce fishing value by around 6 percent, assuming those fish were not subsequently caught elsewhere.

The argument carries particular significance for Te Ao Māori.

For generations, the moana has provided kai, employment, economic opportunity and cultural connection. Māori are also significant participants in the commercial seafood industry following Treaty settlements.

That means the debate cannot simply be reduced to fishing versus conservation.

It raises a much bigger kaupapa around oranga moana, kaitiakitanga and how Aotearoa balances economic use of marine resources with responsibility for the ecosystems supporting them.

With Election 2026 approaching, Greenpeace is calling on political parties to protect seamounts and other vulnerable habitats from bottom trawling and ultimately transition away from the practice.

The fishing industry and Government will continue to point to existing closures, management measures and the economic importance of trawling.

But 35,640 kilograms of protected coral and sponges appearing in fishing nets over six and a half years ensures one question will be difficult to avoid this election — how much damage to the deep ocean is Aotearoa prepared to accept in exchange for the fish we bring to the surface?

#BottomTrawling #Coral #ProtectedCoral #Greenpeace #MPI #FisheriesNZ #ChathamRise #DeepSea #Seamounts #OceanProtection #MarineConservation #OrangaMoana #Kaitiakitanga #Moana #Tangaroa #MāoriFisheries #Seafood #CommercialFishing #MarineLife #Biodiversity #Environment #Election2026 #ClimateAndEnvironment #TeAoMāori #Aotearoa #MāoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post 35 TONNES FROM THE DEEP: CORAL BYCATCH REIGNITES BOTTOM TRAWLING BATTLE appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.