The Ministry for Primary Industries is preparing advice for the minister on the applications for mataitai reserves in Otago Harbour and at Waikouaiti.
Otakou runanga applied for a mataitai covering most of Otago Harbour in June last year, amending an application first made in 2008 which had been in limbo since consultation ended in 2009.
The MPI held a series of clinics late last year in private for submitters to speak to the runanga about their concerns and the MPI said then it would use the sessions to gauge views and help it prepare its advice to the minister.
Kati Huirapa ki Runanga Puketeraki applied for a mataitai to be imposed from the mouth of the river west to the Waikouaiti fishing easement, including the Merton tidal arm and wetlands last August.
The river and wetland area contain several traditional fishing grounds of special significance to the runanga for customary food gathering.
If granted, the mataitai would operate alongside the taiapure that was gazetted in 1999 for the coastal waters off Karitane.
Also ongoing is the Southeast Coast Marine Protection Forum's work on developing recommendations for marine protection along Otago's coastline.
That process was under conservation legislation and ran independently of the mataitai applications.
Forum chairwoman Maree Baker-Galloway said it was starting to ramp up the engagement process with a series of monthly public meetings being held up and down the coast starting in Oamaru on February 12.
''A pleasing number of people are taking part in an online questionnaire, which is also open to the public until the end of March.''
Individual forum members were also beginning to engage at a less formal level with their stakeholder groups, and would continue to do so directly throughout the process.
The forum would then call for formal submissions and take all the information gathered into account before making recommendations to the Government about the sort of marine protection required for the coastline from Timaru to Waipapa Point.
''It's a long stretch of coastline so it will take a while to get around to everyone.''