title: Detecting exploitable stages in the life history of koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) in New Zealand

authors: Daniel, Adam Joshua

subjects: common carp

abstract: Koi carp are a highly coloured strain of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) and are an invasive alien species to New Zealand.  The introduction of koi carp to the lower Waikato River during the 1980s has coincided with a dramatic decline in water quality within the regions riverine lakes.  Removing koi carp from riverine lakes may improve water quality and preserve native biodiversity.  This study used telemetry to examine the movements and seasonal habitat use of adult koi carp to find key locations to efficiently remove koi carp from the lower Waikato River basin. 
Common carp are notoriously difficult to monitor in water temperatures above 20˚C using telemetry due to transmitter expulsion.  To prepare for telemetry based field experiments, three tank trials were conducted to determine the most appropriate surgical technique for the implantation and retention of telemetry transmitters in koi carp.  To reduce transmitter loss, two methods were initially tested in tank trials including two treatment groups and two control groups of ten adult koi carp.  In one treatment, radio transmitters were anchored to the pelvic girdle, and in a second treatment, a polymer coating was applied to acoustic transmitters to reduce tissue irritation.  After 365 days, expulsion rates for uncoated acoustic transmitters were 60% (n = 6), coated acoustic transmitters 50% (n = 5), unanchored radio transmitters 60% (n = 6) and anchored radio transmitters 90% (n = 9).  Bacterial infection of the wound appears to be the primary mechanism for transmitter expulsion.
To reduce the influence of bacterial infection on transmitter expulsion, a slow-release antibiotic was tested to improve transmitter retention.  Dummy acoustic transmitters were implanted in two groups of 20 adult koi carp, an untreated control group, and a group treated with a slow-release, single-dose antibiotic.  After 176 days, the rejection rate of control fish (40%, n = 8) was twice that of fish treated with a slow-release antibiotic (20%, n = 4).  Although we did not find a statistical difference between test groups, this was likely a function of sample size and we view the results as encouraging, justifying further investigation and use of slow-release antibiotics in koi carp.
Koi carp were monitored on the lower Waikato River using both radio and acoustic telemetry for 18 months.  Koi carp migrated throughout the basin and frequently used lateral habitat.  At least 74% of fish that were monitored for at least 250 days migrated through the waterways between riverine lakes or wetlands and the Waikato River.  Waterways connecting riverine lakes and wetlands to the lower Waikato River are ideal locations to intercept migrating koi carp.  Fish released at Lake Whangape occupied a total linear range (TLR) of over 120 km in just 218 days, which represents 71% of the potential in river TLR within the lower Waikato River Basin.  Adult koi carp were found to be active year-round, but peak movements occurred during spawning season (October) during both years of the study.  With a long-term commitment and thoughtful planning, removing a biologically significant proportion of koi carp biomass from the riverine lakes and wetlands of the lower Waikato River is feasible.

text: Detecting exploitable stages in the life history of koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) in New Zealand Koi carp are a highly coloured strain of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) and are an invasive alien species to New Zealand.  The introduction of koi carp to the lower Waikato River during the 1980s has coincided with a dramatic decline in water quality within the regions riverine lakes.  Removing koi carp from riverine lakes may improve water quality and preserve native biodiversity.  This study used telemetry to examine the movements and seasonal habitat use of adult koi carp to find key locations to efficiently remove koi carp from the lower Waikato River basin. 
Common carp are notoriously difficult to monitor in water temperatures above 20˚C using telemetry due to transmitter expulsion.  To prepare for telemetry based field experiments, three tank trials were conducted to determine the most appropriate surgical technique for the implantation and retention of telemetry transmitters in koi carp.  To reduce transmitter loss, two methods were initially tested in tank trials including two treatment groups and two control groups of ten adult koi carp.  In one treatment, radio transmitters were anchored to the pelvic girdle, and in a second treatment, a polymer coating was applied to acoustic transmitters to reduce tissue irritation.  After 365 days, expulsion rates for uncoated acoustic transmitters were 60% (n = 6), coated acoustic transmitters 50% (n = 5), unanchored radio transmitters 60% (n = 6) and anchored radio transmitters 90% (n = 9).  Bacterial infection of the wound appears to be the primary mechanism for transmitter expulsion.
To reduce the influence of bacterial infection on transmitter expulsion, a slow-release antibiotic was tested to improve transmitter retention.  Dummy acoustic transmitters were implanted in two groups of 20 adult koi carp, an untreated control group, and a group treated with a slow-release, single-dose antibiotic.  After 176 days, the rejection rate of control fish (40%, n = 8) was twice that of fish treated with a slow-release antibiotic (20%, n = 4).  Although we did not find a statistical difference between test groups, this was likely a function of sample size and we view the results as encouraging, justifying further investigation and use of slow-release antibiotics in koi carp.
Koi carp were monitored on the lower Waikato River using both radio and acoustic telemetry for 18 months.  Koi carp migrated throughout the basin and frequently used lateral habitat.  At least 74% of fish that were monitored for at least 250 days migrated through the waterways between riverine lakes or wetlands and the Waikato River.  Waterways connecting riverine lakes and wetlands to the lower Waikato River are ideal locations to intercept migrating koi carp.  Fish released at Lake Whangape occupied a total linear range (TLR) of over 120 km in just 218 days, which represents 71% of the potential in river TLR within the lower Waikato River Basin.  Adult koi carp were found to be active year-round, but peak movements occurred during spawning season (October) during both years of the study.  With a long-term commitment and thoughtful planning, removing a biologically significant proportion of koi carp biomass from the riverine lakes and wetlands of the lower Waikato River is feasible.

year: 2009

title: Decolonising Qualitative Analysis: Collectively Weaving Understanding Using Talanoa and Fa’afaletui Pacific-Indigenous Research Methods

authors: Mafile’o, T

abstract: Sense-making processes shape the messages and impacts of qualitative research. Using qualitative data analysis methods embedded within a Pacific-Indigenous research paradigm decolonises research. This article discusses the Pacific-Indigenous data analysis processes of talanoa and fa’afaletui employed within a study of Pacific elder care in Aotearoa New Zealand, conducted by scholars of Pacific/Moana heritage. While research literature has primarily identified talanoa and fa’afaletui as data collection methods, we discuss our use of talanoa and fa’afaletui as methods of analysis. Talanoa and fa’afaletui were engaged as collective processes of orality weaving understanding from the researchers’ lived experiences and navigating across languages. Enhancing authenticity and actionability are identified as benefits of talanoa and fa’afaletui collective data analysis. Considerations for implementing these methods are language, logistics and location.

text: Decolonising Qualitative Analysis: Collectively Weaving Understanding Using Talanoa and Fa’afaletui Pacific-Indigenous Research Methods Sense-making processes shape the messages and impacts of qualitative research. Using qualitative data analysis methods embedded within a Pacific-Indigenous research paradigm decolonises research. This article discusses the Pacific-Indigenous data analysis processes of talanoa and fa’afaletui employed within a study of Pacific elder care in Aotearoa New Zealand, conducted by scholars of Pacific/Moana heritage. While research literature has primarily identified talanoa and fa’afaletui as data collection methods, we discuss our use of talanoa and fa’afaletui as methods of analysis. Talanoa and fa’afaletui were engaged as collective processes of orality weaving understanding from the researchers’ lived experiences and navigating across languages. Enhancing authenticity and actionability are identified as benefits of talanoa and fa’afaletui collective data analysis. Considerations for implementing these methods are language, logistics and location.

year: 2024

title: Indigenous challenges to enhance freshwater governance and management in Aotearoa New Zealand - the Waikato river settlement

authors: Te Aho, Linda

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: Co-management of environmental resources is an idea that has been developing for some time in Aotearoa New Zealand as a strategy that recognises Indigenous interests in the environment, and the different ways that people view the world. The contest for control of New Zealand's rivers has generally arisen from successive governments purporting to secure rights based upon English common law. Precepts of that law were completely foreign to the Indigenous Maori who had their own conceptions of rivers. Through the eyes of the Maori, rivers have their own life force, their own spiritual energy and their own powerful identities. Rivers are inextricably linked to tribal identities. Over time a raft of policies was employed and legislation passed by parliament in the name of development and the national interest which did not take into account Maori understandings of the river and its ecosystems, nor their rights, interests, or authority. Excluded from decision-making processes, Maori have long brought matters to the attention of courts by using any basis to assert our rights and interests, and to have our concerns about the deteriorating health and wellbeing of our rivers taken seriously. The search for redress has been relentless. The Resource Management Act 1991 formalised a range of legal rights, but such rights can be meaningless if presented as just one of many other considerations that decision-makers have to take into account. This article explores the notion of collaborative management and the development of co-management models as a background to the emergent Waikato River settlement ± a legal solution embedded in the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010 that generates a more robust opportunity to bring to an end a paradigm of exclusion and usher in a new era that promises enhanced governance and management of a significant waterway.

text: Indigenous challenges to enhance freshwater governance and management in Aotearoa New Zealand - the Waikato river settlement Co-management of environmental resources is an idea that has been developing for some time in Aotearoa New Zealand as a strategy that recognises Indigenous interests in the environment, and the different ways that people view the world. The contest for control of New Zealand's rivers has generally arisen from successive governments purporting to secure rights based upon English common law. Precepts of that law were completely foreign to the Indigenous Maori who had their own conceptions of rivers. Through the eyes of the Maori, rivers have their own life force, their own spiritual energy and their own powerful identities. Rivers are inextricably linked to tribal identities. Over time a raft of policies was employed and legislation passed by parliament in the name of development and the national interest which did not take into account Maori understandings of the river and its ecosystems, nor their rights, interests, or authority. Excluded from decision-making processes, Maori have long brought matters to the attention of courts by using any basis to assert our rights and interests, and to have our concerns about the deteriorating health and wellbeing of our rivers taken seriously. The search for redress has been relentless. The Resource Management Act 1991 formalised a range of legal rights, but such rights can be meaningless if presented as just one of many other considerations that decision-makers have to take into account. This article explores the notion of collaborative management and the development of co-management models as a background to the emergent Waikato River settlement ± a legal solution embedded in the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010 that generates a more robust opportunity to bring to an end a paradigm of exclusion and usher in a new era that promises enhanced governance and management of a significant waterway.

year: 2010