The Court of Appeal, New Zealand’s highest court, granted South Island Maori groups permission to make Native title claims for the Marlborough seabed. In response to an outcry from the area’s fishermen, who did not want to pay to use the waterway, the government promised to enact a law to block the Maori from making their claim. The law will assert that the Crown owns the seabed and take away the rights of the Maori to claim customary title. The Maori will be able to claim customary use, but ownership will be held solely by the Crown.
