Wairewa customary eel fishery
Project: Wairewa customary eel fishery
Project Code: EEL2004/03
Start Date: 1 October 2004
Completion Date: 30 September 2005
Vessel Use: None
Overall Objective:
- To assess the present status of eel stocks in Lake Wairewa (Forsyth).
Specific Objectives:
-
To determine the present species composition of eels in Lake Wairewa and the main tributaries.
-
To determine the current age structure, growth rates and sex composition of eels in Lake Wairewa.
Rationale:
General
Freshwater eels are highly valued by Maori as a customary resource. Maori have strong traditional ties to eels and their harvest but there is no overall assessment of the extent of the current of historical take. There are specific areas identified as traditional customary areas and two of these, Lake Horowhenua and Lake Wairewa, have been set aside by regulation for exclusive access by tangata whenua. A vision of the Wairewa runanga is to establish a mahinga kai cultural park, and the customary eel resource in Lake Wairewa is an integral part of this vision. The Wairewa runanga are committed to maintaining and restoring the mahinga kai values of Wairewa and information on the extent and well-being of the eel resource is critical to assessing and maintaining these resources.
Lake Wairewa is a coastal lake with a seaward shingle bar separating the lake from the sea. An artificial lake outlet is created when the lake rises to a certain level. The eel fishery has traditionally only been exploited using traditional methods during the heke (seaward migration) when the migration to the sea is blocked by the shingle bar. Recruitment of juvenile eels into the lake is probably dependent on lake openings. The runanga are interested in exploring the possibility of different management options, and understanding whether there is evidence of intermittent recruitment associated with the present opening regime of the lake.
Other research relating to customary eel fisheries has been undertaken at specific request from local iwi. In the South Island an assessment of the eel stocks in the Wainono Lagoon and the Waiho catchment was made to provide a benchmark for future monitoring and management of the customary fishery. A current project (EEL2003/02) is assessing the eel stocks in customary fishing areas of the Whanau a Kai, Te Aitanga a Mahaki.
The undertaking of the objectives for this project would require the involvement and utilization of the skills and knowledge of members for the Wairewa runanga.
Objective 1
Lake Wairewa and inflows have particular value to the Wairewa runanga as a customary eel fishery. No commercial fishing has occurred in the lake although some commercial harvest has occurred in the inflows before they were closed to commercial fishing in 1995. No specific assessment has been made of the eel population in the lake or inflows. The focus of this objective is to determine the species size composition of eels in the lake and main tributaries.
Objective 2
This objective is designed to determine the age structure, growth rate and sex composition of the eel population in Lake Wairewa. Specific analysis of the size and age frequency would determine evidence of intermittent recruitment possibly caused by the long periods of closure to the sea that might prevent the recruitment of glass eels into the lake. Local understanding is that glass eels might recruit into the lake via seepage through the shingle bar.
Strategic Relevance
This project is consistent with the Fisheries Resources goal and Strategic Objectives in the Ministry of Fisheries Strategic Research Directions document.
Cost Recovery Information:
This project is 100% Crown funded.
The project is estimated to cost between $50,000 - $100,000.