Seven Te Tai Tokerau iwi have asked to be allowed to trade their fisheries' assets on the open market.
Photo: RNZ / Allison Hossain
But the call has been resisted in a review of how Māori fisheries are managed through Te Ohu Kaimona.
The unnamed northern tribes made the trading suggestion in a submission on the way Māori fisheries could be governed in the future.
They argue the quota could be bought and sold in the same way as are other treaty assets.
Waikato-Tainui, however, has a different view, arguing the quota needs to be kept in Māori hands.
And the third largest iwi by population - Ngāti Kahungunu - does not want tribal-owned quota to be sold to non-Māori.
Current rules under the Māori Fisheries Act say settlement quota can only be sold to iwi and Te Ohu Kaimoana trustees.
In his report on the review of Te Ohu Kaimona, barrister Tim Castle said he had received strong submissions saying the restriction of sales of settlement quota to iwi and the fisheries body does not a create a competitive market.
He goes on to say that some submitters believe the structure as it is stops iwi from realising the true value of their assets on an open market.
However, Mr Castle has recommended that all Māori quota should stay in the Māori pool.
Iwi to examine report
The review of Māori fisheries is to be examined by a nine-member tribal panel.
One plan is to abolish the fisheries body, Te Ohu Kaimoana, which handles the quota settlement issues to tribes.
The nature and funding of any new body would have to be decided by iwi.
The group's job will be to study the review and explain the consequences of the recommendations and to gather views from all mandated iwi.
Te Ohu Kaimoana will hold up to 10 hui throughout the motu to discuss the implications in the coming months.
The members of the iwi working group are:
Source: Te Ohu Kaimoana