The commercial pāua industry has eight pāua Quota Management Areas (QMA). Five Pāua Management Area Councils  (PāuaMACs) have

been established by commercial stakeholders to manage commercial pāua fishing within these QMA.

 

For example, PāuaMAC4 covers PAU4, the official designation for the Chatham Islands pāua fishery area. The role of each PāuaMAC is to engage in regional issues and to develop projects appropriate to each fishery. They also carry out workplans and advocacy for their region.

 

PāuaMACs are regionally-based Incorporated Societies managed by executive boards that are elected at each Annual General Meeting by majority vote of industry participants. Funding for all pāua organisations is by way of a Commodity Levy, enabled by the Commodity Levies Act, 1990.

 

The annual Commodity Levy voting process by Pāua Quota Share Owners is run strictly under Commodity Levy Act Rules administered by the Crown. The Commodity Levying process ensures PIC and the PāuaMACs have a strong mandate to undertake work on behalf of the pāua industry in New Zealand.