Closure on a fishy cold case
A PhD student has possibly cracked the case on one of New Zealand’s fish mysteries and his work could shed light on risks facing longfin eels. It’s been an enduring whodunnit. Who and what killed New Zealand’s grayling? The freshwater fish, about the size of a small trout was once so abundant its babies were shovelled onto market gardens as fertiliser. It also was said to make a fine meal. The widespread, and reportedly beautiful fish disappeared shortly after European settlement.
New technology helps find koi carp
The HBRC is pleased that a new environmental DNA technology has helped confirm a suspected presence of the invasive koi carp in a farm pond in Hawke’s Bay. A tip off from a farm manager, followed by a eDNA sample has resulted in a process to remove two fish that had been in the pond for some time. Freshwater ecologist Daniel Fake says koi carp have wreaked havoc in the Waikato, Auckland and Northland where they have proliferated, and the council doesn’t want that to happen in Hawke’s Bay.
Hauraki Plains' drains of death
A lethal combination of heat, silted-up floodgates and degraded waterways has led to a deadly outbreak of botulism and a suspected toxic algal bloom Parts of the Hauraki Plains have become killing fields for ducks and eels as summer heat exacerbates existing habitat problems. There’s been a triple whammy of death. Algal blooms have turned water into a “pea soup" and a hot summer has seen unshaded drains reach 29°C. Eels trying to escape the adverse conditions have been trapped ...
Should we stop whitebaiting?
By Stella McQueen* A version of this story first appeared in Forest & Bird magazine in Spring 2016. Help whitebait You can make a submission to Department of Conservation supporting better whitebait rules before 2 March 2020. Whitebait season is again upon us, and many are wondering if it will be a bumper year or a fizzer. The size of the catch depends on a mysterious combination of the weather now, the weather a few months ago, ocean currents, and the lure of supply and demand.
Scientists help lamprey to spread the love
Contraptions that resemble upside-down kitchen sinks have been placed in the Waikawa River in Southland to attract a notoriously elusive native fish species. NIWA scientists have dubbed these structures “lamprey love lofts” and the hope is that lamprey will use them for spawning. The pouched lamprey, also known as kanakana and piharau, is an important taonga species for Māori. Once prolific nationwide, there are still strong populations in the South Island but they are becoming rarer ...
'Fish ear bones are like a diary'
'Fish ear bones are like a diary' - RNZ PODCAST NIWA freshwater ecologist Dr Eimear Egan describes herself as an “otolith nerd”, and she has been gleaning insights into past climates from historic collections of eel and flounder ear bones collected from around New Zealand.
Zealandia reservoir to be drained to remove a tonne of pesky perch –STUFF March 2021
The lower reservoir at Zealandia is being drained this month to remove around a tonne of unwanted fish, which are eating native species and throwing the ecosystem off balance. Perch were introduced to Roto Kawau, the lower part of an existing man-made reservoir, more 140 years ago, by people wanting to create fishing opportunities. They preyed on native fish, and altered the food chain by consuming invertebrates (zooplankton), which normally eat algae (a phytoplankton called cyanobacteria),...
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The return of tuna to the Manawatū awa has been a great success, but it’s only the beginning, organisers say. Eel, known as tuna in te reo, have grown significantly in numbers at the Urban Eels Sanctuary on the He Ara Kōtahi pathway. Rangitāne in partnership with the Palmerston North City Council released three tuna into the Turitea Stream in July last year.
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