{"id":158678,"date":"2025-11-28T21:52:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/158678\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T21:52:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:52:07","slug":"court-rules-whangarei-man-jonathan-moon-misused-customary-fishing-rights-imposes-3-year-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/158678\/","title":{"rendered":"Court rules Whang\u0101rei man, Jonathan Moon, misused customary fishing rights, imposes 3-year ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

The hearing took place on Wednesday, during which the court heard Moon\u2019s history dated back to 2013 when he was formally registered by MPI as a customary permit issuer.<\/a><\/p>\n

A tangata kaitiaki or permit issuer, under the ministry, is elected by kaum\u0101tua from local hap\u016b or marae to authorise and manage customary activities, such as taking large amounts of seafood for tangi or celebrations.<\/p>\n

Moon had been nominated as tangata kaitiaki by his kaum\u0101tua following a hui at Te Aranga Marae in Hastings.<\/p>\n

\"JonathanJonathan Moon was registered as a customary permit issuer in 2013 for the Te Tai R\u0101whiti and Te Tai Hau\u0101uru rohe as determined by MPI.<\/p>\n

The recognised rohe, or area, for the permit was Te Tai R\u0101whiti and Te Tai Hau\u0101uru, commonly known as the Gisborne and Taranaki West Coast area.<\/p>\n

Moon said he underwent MPI\u2019s formal training once accepted and was issued a customary permit booklet.<\/p>\n

But he was found over the last 10 years to have been issuing permits for a Kaikohe marae and taking from the Matap\u014duri<\/a> areas when he was not authorised to by locals.<\/p>\n

Following a successful prosecution by MPI in 2017, Moon wrote a letter to local hap\u016b Te Wh\u0101nau \u0101 Rangiwhakaahua and Matap\u014duri Marae advising he acknowledged they held mana moana and would abide by processes in future.<\/p>\n

On July 28, 2023, he and another person surfaced at Woolleys Bay equipped with scuba gear and a catch bag. Moon refused to tell MPI what was in the bag when asked. <\/p>\n

Judge Davey was satisfied from the evidence presented in court that Moon had a large quantity of undersized p\u0101ua, which he had no authority to take.<\/p>\n

Moon, self-represented, told the court his understanding of the rohe for his permit was the entire east and west coast.<\/p>\n

\"JonathanJonathan Moon was caught at Woolleys Bay with p\u0101ua. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

\u201cThose rohe were Te Tai R\u0101whiti and Te Tai Hau\u0101uru. These were not invented by me, they were set by kaum\u0101tua consistent with tikanga. At no stage from 2013 did MPI reject or challenge these rohe,\u201d Moon argued.<\/p>\n

He claimed he was only provided the formal boundary disclosure a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf MPI now says my authority was wrong, then their own process created the situation, not me. I acted exactly as I was trained to act,\u201d Moon said.<\/p>\n

Judge Davey questioned why he was in Woolleys Bay when it was nowhere near the designated rohe.<\/p>\n

Judge Davey referred to Moon\u2019s 2017 letter acknowledging he would not issue any more permits from Roimata in the north to Mangawhai.<\/p>\n

Moon responded by saying the letter was written as an act of reconciliation and to restore balance and demonstrate cultural respect consistent with tikanga principles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not an admission of wrongdoing, your honour.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RangiwhakaahuaRangiwhakaahua kaitiaki Kris MacDonald has been central to the MPI case against Jonathan Moon. Photo \/ Te Pouahi o te Tai Tokerau<\/p>\n

Moon went on to say that the day he was at Woolleys Bay, he was gathering for \u201cMatariki sustenance\u201d, which falls under what he believed to be customary tikanga.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I am asking you is, how can you say tikanga permitted you to take kai from Woolleys Bay without any permission from the local hap\u016b?\u201d Judge Davey asked.<\/p>\n

Moon could not provide a clear answer.<\/p>\n

\u2018They hold the fires that burn\u2019<\/p>\n

MPI lawyer Paddy Wood said Moon had been provided with all the details of his rohe from the time he was registered and had been significantly trained by the organisation.<\/p>\n

Wood said the test for being a permit issuer was they must be tangata whenua to the area, which Moon is not.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe relies on the jurisdiction that he suggests MPI gave him, but also he claims an overarching ability under tikanga to issue permits … basically as he sees fit, when he sees fit and that undermines the very nature of tikanga.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ng\u0101tiwai leader Kris MacDonald<\/a> provided a detailed affidavit that specified the customary rights along the T\u016bt\u016bk\u0101k\u0101 coast.<\/p>\n

Wood said there was a stark difference in MacDonald and Moon\u2019s interpretations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoon\u2019s interpretation is generalised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMacDonald references land claims, geographical features, a discerned understanding of the meaning of certain names in the area, reference to urup\u0101, wh\u0101nau, the k\u0101inga.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey hold the fires that burn in the area, these are very critical factors in assessing whether Moon exercised customary rights in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wood pointed out MacDonald\u2019s detail to r\u0101hui, which can only be implemented by them.<\/p>\n

\u2018Not hap\u016b-specific authority\u2019<\/p>\n

Moon said the affidavit did not override his issuing authority.<\/p>\n

\u201cI acted under the Crown authority, not hap\u016b-specific authority and not under the kai moana regulations. The affidavit cannot impose a regional boundary system MPI itself did not use when appointing me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Davey agreed with MPI and MacDonald\u2019s evidence and issued a prohibition order against Moon for three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeaning, if there is any existing authority for Mr Moon to issue any permits then that effectively is being forfeited,\u201d Judge Davey said.<\/p>\n

\"AperahamaAperahama Edwards, chairman of Te Poari o Ng\u0101tiwai, is one of the customary permit issuers for the region. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

Moon is also not to engage in any fishing activity associated with taking fish, aquatic life, seaweed or shellfish.<\/p>\n

MacDonald told NZME their kaitiaki constantly monitor the coast\u2019s kai moana resource, which he said is thin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pretty aware of where our p\u0101ua are and looking after them and making sure we don\u2019t take if they get a little bit thin or a little bit small.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel very slighted when he seems to, without any relationship with us, believe he can just help himself through permits he\u2019s getting issued out of his marae in Kaikohe,\u201d MacDonald said.<\/p>\n

MacDonald said the registered permit issuers for the Matap\u014duri area are Ng\u0101tiwai Trust Board staff Aperahama Kerepeti Edwards and Tania Macpherson.<\/p>\n

MacDonald said they have strong cultural and customary monitoring and were committed to protecting their coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor customary purposes, it does get hammered over summer so go easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fisheries New Zealand district manager for Northland, Swazi Lal, told NZME Moon was a recidivist offender who had been convicted twice since 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rules are there for a reason \u2013 to protect our shared fishery resources and ensure they\u2019re sustainable into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shannon Pitman is a Whang\u0101rei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ng\u0101puhi\/ Ng\u0101ti P\u016bkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The hearing took place on Wednesday, during which the court heard Moon\u2019s history dated back to 2013 when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[104675,1060,1349,103124,3087,104674,16411,5158,104673,8036,111,43,139,69,12718,6122,1869],"class_list":{"0":"post-158678","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-3year","9":"tag-ban","10":"tag-court","11":"tag-customary","12":"tag-fishing","13":"tag-imposes","14":"tag-jonathan","15":"tag-man","16":"tag-misused","17":"tag-moon","18":"tag-new-zealand","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-newzealand","21":"tag-nz","22":"tag-rights","23":"tag-rules","24":"tag-whangrei"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}