Maori have been warned by the government about the way they are using ageing foreign charter fishing boats to catch their Treaty of Waitangi quotas.
"Maori are in a unique position to lead the debate on the use of foreign fishing vessels as they are big users," Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley told the Maori fisheries Conference in Nelson.
He said the foreign charter vessels (FCVs) were "well past their use-by-date".
His warning followed reports which revealed Maori deep-sea fishing, once touted as an economic saviour for Maori, now depends on Asian and Ukrainian FCVs where conditions are akin to sweatshops.
Government attempts to moderate the use of FCVs has been resisted by some iwi, which say without them they cannot fish.
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