title: Boat electrofishing survey of the Awaiti and Bancrofts canals (Tee Head Canal), Piako River system

authors: Hicks, Brendan J.

abstract: This purpose of this survey of Awaiti and Bancrofts canals was to establish the presence of fish in the canals and to determine their relative density and biomass by boat electrofishing. These canals drain the Kopuatai Peat Dome and adjacent farmland into Tee Head Canal, which is part of the Piako River system in the Waikato Region. Awaiti Canal had patches of the emergent macrophyte Eurasian reed sweet grass (Glyceria maxima) and floating common duckweed (Lemna minor). Bancrofts Canal had dense beds of reed sweet grass and water pepper (Persicaria hydropiper, syn. Polygonum hydropiper) that extended into the water along most of its margin to the extent that the bank was not visible. The water of both canals was tannin-stained, but Bancrofts Canal had heavier staining than Awaiti Canal.
We boat electrofished five sites in Awaiti Canal and five sites in Bancrofts Canal for 10 mins each on 21 February 2018. Water temperature was 24.3°C in Awaiti Canal and 23.1°C in Bancrofts Canal. In Awaiti Canal, ambient electrical conductivity was 313.5 µS cm⁻¹, specific conductivity was 317.6 µS cm⁻¹, and black disc distance was 0.18 m. In Bancrofts Canal, ambient conductivity was 174.3 µS cm⁻¹, and specific conductivity was 180.8 µS cm⁻¹.
We caught 31 fish in total, 28 in Awaiti Canal and 3 in Bancrofts Canal. Species included shortfin eels (Anguilla australis), inanga (Galaxias maculatus), goldfish (Carassius auratus), brown bullhead catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus) and gambusia (Gambusia affinis). Two inanga at site 4 (Awaiti Canal) were retrieved dead on capture, as was the one eel retrieved in Bancrofts Canal.
Fish densities were very low, up to a maximum of 1.02 fish 100 m-2 for all species combined at site 3 in Awaiti Canal. Only gambusia were found alive in Bancrofts Canal. Biomass per site and areal biomass were similarly very low, and this was partly attributable to the small size of individuals, which suggested that, with the exception of gambusia, they were young, newly recruited fish.
Awaiti Canal had a low diversity of small fish species that are generally tolerant of poor water quality. This fish diversity is particularly low considering the close proximity of the sites to the coast (about 30 km from the Firth of Thames). The most diverse fish communities in New Zealand are found close to the coast. Typical mean eel densities in the Waikato River assessed by boat electrofishing were 0.7-1.3 eels 100 m⁻² compared to the mean of 0.12 fish 100 m⁻² (range of 0-0.29 eels 100 m⁻² ) at the five sites Awaiti Canal. Bancroft Canal had only gambusia, and the one shortfin eel found dead could have drifted in or died in the canal, probably as result of low DO concentrations.

text: Boat electrofishing survey of the Awaiti and Bancrofts canals (Tee Head Canal), Piako River system This purpose of this survey of Awaiti and Bancrofts canals was to establish the presence of fish in the canals and to determine their relative density and biomass by boat electrofishing. These canals drain the Kopuatai Peat Dome and adjacent farmland into Tee Head Canal, which is part of the Piako River system in the Waikato Region. Awaiti Canal had patches of the emergent macrophyte Eurasian reed sweet grass (Glyceria maxima) and floating common duckweed (Lemna minor). Bancrofts Canal had dense beds of reed sweet grass and water pepper (Persicaria hydropiper, syn. Polygonum hydropiper) that extended into the water along most of its margin to the extent that the bank was not visible. The water of both canals was tannin-stained, but Bancrofts Canal had heavier staining than Awaiti Canal.
We boat electrofished five sites in Awaiti Canal and five sites in Bancrofts Canal for 10 mins each on 21 February 2018. Water temperature was 24.3°C in Awaiti Canal and 23.1°C in Bancrofts Canal. In Awaiti Canal, ambient electrical conductivity was 313.5 µS cm⁻¹, specific conductivity was 317.6 µS cm⁻¹, and black disc distance was 0.18 m. In Bancrofts Canal, ambient conductivity was 174.3 µS cm⁻¹, and specific conductivity was 180.8 µS cm⁻¹.
We caught 31 fish in total, 28 in Awaiti Canal and 3 in Bancrofts Canal. Species included shortfin eels (Anguilla australis), inanga (Galaxias maculatus), goldfish (Carassius auratus), brown bullhead catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus) and gambusia (Gambusia affinis). Two inanga at site 4 (Awaiti Canal) were retrieved dead on capture, as was the one eel retrieved in Bancrofts Canal.
Fish densities were very low, up to a maximum of 1.02 fish 100 m-2 for all species combined at site 3 in Awaiti Canal. Only gambusia were found alive in Bancrofts Canal. Biomass per site and areal biomass were similarly very low, and this was partly attributable to the small size of individuals, which suggested that, with the exception of gambusia, they were young, newly recruited fish.
Awaiti Canal had a low diversity of small fish species that are generally tolerant of poor water quality. This fish diversity is particularly low considering the close proximity of the sites to the coast (about 30 km from the Firth of Thames). The most diverse fish communities in New Zealand are found close to the coast. Typical mean eel densities in the Waikato River assessed by boat electrofishing were 0.7-1.3 eels 100 m⁻² compared to the mean of 0.12 fish 100 m⁻² (range of 0-0.29 eels 100 m⁻² ) at the five sites Awaiti Canal. Bancroft Canal had only gambusia, and the one shortfin eel found dead could have drifted in or died in the canal, probably as result of low DO concentrations.

year: 2018

title: Reimagining primary health care workforce in rural and underserved settings

authors: Strasser, Roger

subjects: primary health care

abstract: This Discussion Paper starts at the local level and reimagines primary health care (PHC) and the PHC workforce from the perspective of people living in rural and underserved urban areas of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Drawing on research evidence and successful examples, it presents a “start local” health service delivery model, health system design framework, and financing models intended to ensure highquality local comprehensive PHC is available and accessible to all. Core PHC team members (community health workers, registered nurses, specialist family physicians, and administrators) and other health practitioners are generalists in their disciplines, working together in collaborative practice as the frontline providers of care that responds to the health needs of the population they serve. The most successful model of education and training for local comprehensive PHC is socially accountable, immersive community-engaged education woven into a facilitated education and training pathway starting with recruiting local students from rural and underserved communities. Successful attraction, recruitment, and retention of PHC team members results from the systematic approach of the Workforce Stability Framework with the three main tasks of plan, recruit, and retain supported by a long-term strategy and five conditions for success. High-quality local comprehensive PHC is successful in improving local population health when it is part of an integrated health system that connects clusters of autonomous local health service delivery organizations through partnerships with regional referral centers and other specialist service organizations that value the expertise of local PHC providers. All levels of the health system (local, regional, and national) are enhanced by intersectoral collaboration with active participation of all Partnership Pentagram members (policy makers, health administrators, health professionals, academics, and communities), underpinned by a local health needs– focused national health strategy, up-front local investments in PHC infrastructure and personnel, and funding models that reward achieving health outcomes.

text: Reimagining primary health care workforce in rural and underserved settings This Discussion Paper starts at the local level and reimagines primary health care (PHC) and the PHC workforce from the perspective of people living in rural and underserved urban areas of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Drawing on research evidence and successful examples, it presents a “start local” health service delivery model, health system design framework, and financing models intended to ensure highquality local comprehensive PHC is available and accessible to all. Core PHC team members (community health workers, registered nurses, specialist family physicians, and administrators) and other health practitioners are generalists in their disciplines, working together in collaborative practice as the frontline providers of care that responds to the health needs of the population they serve. The most successful model of education and training for local comprehensive PHC is socially accountable, immersive community-engaged education woven into a facilitated education and training pathway starting with recruiting local students from rural and underserved communities. Successful attraction, recruitment, and retention of PHC team members results from the systematic approach of the Workforce Stability Framework with the three main tasks of plan, recruit, and retain supported by a long-term strategy and five conditions for success. High-quality local comprehensive PHC is successful in improving local population health when it is part of an integrated health system that connects clusters of autonomous local health service delivery organizations through partnerships with regional referral centers and other specialist service organizations that value the expertise of local PHC providers. All levels of the health system (local, regional, and national) are enhanced by intersectoral collaboration with active participation of all Partnership Pentagram members (policy makers, health administrators, health professionals, academics, and communities), underpinned by a local health needs– focused national health strategy, up-front local investments in PHC infrastructure and personnel, and funding models that reward achieving health outcomes.

year: 2020

title: Ohaaki: A power station on Maori land

authors: Stokes, Evelyn

subjects: Ohaaki Geothermal Power Station

abstract: This paper is about a geothermal power station called Ohaaki, constructed over the period 1982-1989 on Maori land close by Te Ohaaki Marae and the ancestral papakainga of Ngati Tahu. This is a personal account of the impact of this project on Ngati Tahu rather than a history of the construction of the power station.

text: Ohaaki: A power station on Maori land This paper is about a geothermal power station called Ohaaki, constructed over the period 1982-1989 on Maori land close by Te Ohaaki Marae and the ancestral papakainga of Ngati Tahu. This is a personal account of the impact of this project on Ngati Tahu rather than a history of the construction of the power station.

year: 2003