The Maori Fisheries Trust says media-driven hysteria has caused proposed legislation to go beyond recommendations that resulted from an inquiry into working conditions on foreign fishing boats in New Zealand waters.
The Fisheries Amendment Bill, which has had its first reading in Parliament, proposes that from 2016 the vessels will come under local labor laws.
The Maori Fisheries Trust - or Te Ohu Kaimoana - describes the changes as draconian and says they could cost iwi up to $10 million a year.
Chief executive Peter Douglas says some media have wrongly labelled Maori as being partly responsible for alleged poor working conditions on the boats.
He says too many stories on radio, TV and in the newspapers have overstated the importance of Maori fishing interests in the tonnage of fish caught by foreign chartered vessels.
Peter Douglas says figures have been published stating that Maori own as much as 85% of the quota when in fact, if all of the quota owned by Maori were added together, it would be no more than 17% of the fish caught.
