Hauraki Gulf Shellfish Coordination Group
The Hauraki Gulf is a great taonga/treasure of nature and marine life. It is special to The Tindall Foundation (TTF) because our office is only a couple of hundred metres up the road from its sparkling sapphire water. Home to over 60 islands and five marine reserves, and covering more than 1.2 million hectares, this is an extraordinary place.
But sadly the Gulf is in grave danger, and without urgent action faces an uncertain future. Overharvesting of shellfish, combined with decades of sediment runoff, trawler fishing and extensive dredging, have removed native species from the Gulf’s waters.
This is why our founders, staff and Trustees were delighted to join Peter van Kampen (Ngāi Tai), Shellfish Restoration Coordinator at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and members of local iwi Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei at Ōkahu Bay, Auckland to hear about projects that are restoring shellfish beds to the ocean floor. Many organisations have come together to release 100 tonnes of mussels into the Hauraki Gulf just off Ōkahu Bay. Although COVID-19 has forced a delay, Peter is hopeful the mussels will be release by the end of 2021.
The objective is to restore this historic shellfish bed and with it the biodiversity and ecosystem services that are so desperately needed. Mussels are filter feeders pumping water, phytoplankton and other particles through their gills: one mussel can filter enough water to fill a bathtub in a day.
These are amazing creatures, Peter explains: “After the mussels settle, they will drag themselves along the sea floor, smell other mussels and end up forming little stacks, almost like Lego towers. Over time we will see algae come in and then crabs, other invertebrates and fish. These will be hot spots for biodiversity, and a really cool network of nooks and crannies where fish can hide.”
The Hauraki Gulf Shellfish Coordination Group, of which TNC and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei are members, has the long-term goal of restoring 1,000 square km of shellfish beds and reefs throughout the Gulf. TTF and Foundation North funded Peter’s role at TNC so he can lead the project.
Says Peter: “Restoration of shellfish beds and reefs across the Gulf will support citizen science and engage significant numbers of volunteers. We are working closely with iwi communities in planning, implementation and assessment of these restoration efforts.
“This is just the beginning. We have other projects under development to create more mussel beds in the Gulf.”
