The Government's plan to rope off a huge section of the Pacific as a sanctuary, could become the focus of a legal challenge.

The Prime Minister has announced the creation of one of the world's largest ocean sanctuaries in the Kermadec region.

But Labour's fisheries spokesperson Rino Tirakatene said iwi weren't consulted, despite some of them having significant quota rights in the area.

He said it won't be good enough to offer iwi quota rights elsewhere, as it's not as simple as moving stock from one paddock to another.