KohiKAI App - Customary Permits

Who can receive a customary harvest permit?

Customary fishing permits can be issued to whānau and members of the community by an authorised kaitiaki, for the purpose of harvesting kaimoana for occasions such as tangihana and hui.

You can find out more about Māori customary fishing [HERE]

A kaitiaki is nominated by either their mandated iwi organisation, hapu or nominating authority. Their names are registered with the Ministry of Primary Industries as official kaitiaki.

Who can apply for a customary harvest permit?

When whānau, or a member of the community would like to request a customary harvest permit to collect kaimoana for a specific event or occasion, they can contact a Kaitiaki within their rohe moana or the area they intend to harvest from.  If a kaitiaki is satisfied that the request for a permit meets the necessary requirements they can then issue a permit.

Although the previous method of issuing and receiving permits is still valid (permit book), the process is sometimes inconvenient for both kaitiaki and applicants for a variety of reasons.

KohiKAI uses simple, everyday, modern tools and technology to improve the way permits are issued.  Kaitiaki now have the ability to provide customary harvesters with a permit by sending it directly to their phones via email or SMS text.

How to Apply for a Permit

Anyone can apply for a customary harvest permit.  In most cases, so long as the kaitiaki issuing the permit is happy that the purpose of the harvest satisfies their requirements then a permit can be issued.

KohiKAI is a new system and we are currently trying to promote our system to iwi, hapu and Kaitiaki all around New Zealand.