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Maori Fisheries Trust Board benefits from Bell Gully
A unique artwork will adorn the offices of Rotorua based Te Kotahitanga o Te Arawa Waka Fisheries Trust Board when national law firm Bell Gully donates a painting by Thomas Clark as a gift.
The painting is being donated by Bell Gully in recognition of the board's efforts to establish mandated iwi status and also to acknowledge its achievements in setting up a valid framework to acquire fisheries settlement assets. As a result, $23 million dollars worth of assets have already been received.
Bell Gully senior associate Damian Stone will present the painting to board chairman Don Bennet on Friday 23 March at the board's offices in Rotorua.
"The board has been working hard on this for the last four years and it's a great accomplishment. Not only have they established a comprehensive and thorough governance structure that complies with the Maori Fisheries Act 2004, but they have also succeeded in achieving the objectives and wishes of the Te Arawa beneficiaries as well. It was a privilege for Bell Gully to assist in that process," Damian says.
As part of the newly established governance structure, the board has set up a subsidiary company, Te Arawa Fisheries, to further manage the acquisition of settlement assets.
"The challenge for us now is to use our assets and maximise our commercial return. We believe that we have the necessary legal structures and personnel in place to achieve that objective," chairman Don Bennett says.
To receive all of the fisheries settlement assets, the board must now negotiate coastline agreements with neighbouring iwi groups.
"The coastline agreement process is underway and we are hopeful that an agreement will be reached shortly. When this is complete, we can access all fisheries settlement assets belonging to us and utilise them for the benefit of all Te Arawa beneficiaries," general manager John Merito says.
Te Raukura Gallery Director, June Grant of Te Arawa, applauds the initiative of Bell Gully in supporting the work of talented artists such as Thomas Clark with an appropriate gift. Gifts such as these paintings, are named "Ngutu Whero" and visually describe the issues surrounding indigenous fishing resources, she says.
Bell Gully has advised more than 10 iwi groups on the legal requirements needed to receive fisheries settlement assets since approximately 2002.
