“They are shocked that this has happened, questioning why someone would commit such a crime,” she said. She said the alleged incident was deeply disheartening for a small iwi working hard to build economic opportunities for its people and the iwi would now face additional costs from recovering and resetting the assets. Te Aupōuri is a relative newcomer to New Zealand’s aquaculture industry. Te Aupōuri previously described the farm as a chance to build intergenerational benefits and local employment in an industry forecast to exceed $3 billion nationally by 2035. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, most of which she spent court reporting in Gisborne and on the East Coast.

Source: New Zealand Herald February 26, 2026 19:16 UTC