Dr Jacques Boubee, NIWA, presented information on the most significant topic of the day - barriers to fish passage and how these can be managed. An education process is the one of the most significant steps we can take in order to prevent the population in New Zealand failing to this level. Elver transfer is only one component of the five pronged approach to eel management in the Rangitaiki River. The complex journey of migration and breeding was outlined to the hui participants, highlighting in particular the eel breeding location far from the New Zealand coast in the tropical South Pacific waters near Tonga. Its exact location has remained a mystery and is a challenge for future scientists.
Many questions remain unanswered and research continues.
Yet the common ground is the desire to understand and conserve the tuna. An area deep in the heart of Whanganui National Park will be home away from home for six tangata whenua for the next three months. The Department of Conservation and some Whanganui River iwi have jointly agreed that one large area of forest surrounding a sacred burial site be treated for possums on the ground by tangata whenua. Whanganui Area Manager, Bryon Fawcett, says about 13,000 hectares are being aerially treated for possums this winter using 1080 cereal bait. As well, an additional 1200 hectares are being treated to form a buffer zone between treated and non-treated areas, to prevent possums moving between the two.