A newsletter from the
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5
MESSAGE FROM
THE CE
As the Waikato River Authority
gets underway with the process
of deciding on what clean-up
projects will be funded in 2015,
an analysis of funding over the
first four years shows a strong
partnership with iwi.
Of the $22 million dollars that
has been distributed by the
Authority so far, nearly $10
million has gone to iwi or iwi
partnership projects. This is
an encouraging statistic and
includes a number of funded
projects of major scale. Iwi are
generally now well positioned
to play an even bigger role in the
health and wellbeing of the river
following the preparation
of environmental
management plans and
fisheries plans.
Manaaki Tuna, a collaborative project
that is working towards enhancing the
tuna population of the Waikato River,
is now well underway. The project was
developed by Waikato Tainui College
for Research and Development in
partnership with Waikato Raupatu
River Trust and NIWA.
It is one of the largest projects to be
funded by the Waikato River Authority.
The project is focusing on a number of
key areas:
• Developing a Tuna Restoration Plan
for the Waikato River – best practice
guide that identifies and prioritises
actions for restoration; and
• Restoring and enhancing the tuna
(eel) populations of the Waikato
River, through a combination of
riparian habitat enhancement,
eel transfers, and improved fish
passage; and
• Supporting Waikato-Tainui in the
collation of maatauranga o te tuna
and development of a community
tuna monitoring framework; and
• Supporting the implementation and
monitoring of the Waikato River
fisheries bylaws whose purpose
is to ensure the sustainability of
fisheries resources and recognise
the cultural and traditional
management practices of
Waikato-Tainui.
Dr Sarah Jane Tiakiwai, Academic
Director Waikato Tainui College for
Research and Development says
baseline tuna monitoring has been
completed at nine sites throughout
the Waikato-Tainui rohe, which will
be work that will form the basis of
developing the community
monitoring framework.
“Habitat restoration is ongoing with
two sites identified, restoration plans
completed. Work is now underway and
this year we are focusing on further
habitat enhancement, eel transfers,
collation of Waikato-Tainui eel
matauranga and improving
fish passage.
“Our relationship with the Waikato
River Authority is strengthening
all the time. We were fortunate to
be funded for the Toku Awa Koiora
project, an online learning tool
attached to the Science Learning Hub
which enabled our maatauranga to sit
equally alongside the science about
our tupuna awa. We have since been
funded for the Manaaki Tuna project.
These funding opportunities have
enabled us to contribute positively to
improving the health and wellbeing of
our tupuna awa,” says Dr Tiakiwai.
Long fin tuna captured in the lower catchment of the Waikato River for monitoring, which
are ready to be measured and released as part of the Maanaki Tuna project being led by
Waikato Tainui College for Research and Development.
Boosting tuna
numbers in the lower
Waikato River