Kuaka call for further protection

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa has requested a further 2-year closure over an area within Ōhiwa Harbour to the harvest of mussels, under section 186A of the Fisheries Act 1996. The existing closure, Te rāhui kuku ki tua o Kanawa, for the green lipped mussel beds along the Ōhope Spit ends in November this year. The purpose of extending the rāhui is to allow juvenile mussels the opportunity to grow to maturity in the proposed closure area, around 100,000 square metres along about 650 metres of coastline near the end of Harbour Road, Ōhope.

Charlie Bluett, from Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa, said, ‘combining restoration effort with a temporary closure (186A) has been fundamental to the successful restoration of this mussel bed’. The restoration of the mussel beds at Ōhiwa is the most successful restoration project of this kind in the country. ‘Now we have to protect them to ensure the bed is ecologically

strong and stable for all of our collective mokopuna (grandchildren) in the future’.

Kuku or green lipped mussel beds were once extensive in the harbour’s main channels, as were scallops, oysters, cockles, pipi along with many fish species. Whether due to overharvesting, deteriorating water quality or other factors, these beds had almost disappeared by the end of last century. Concern about the future of kuku led to Professor Kura Paul-Burke (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whakahemo) to begin monitoring them in 2007. From 2019 the restoration of the kuku beds went underway in a collaborative effort led by Dr Kura Paul-Burke. For details on this award-winning project, check out this page.

Fisheries New Zealand invites written submissions from anyone who has an interest in the species concerned, or in the effects of fishing in the area concerned. Email your submission to FMSubmissions@mpi.govt.nz until 21 August, 5pm.