What We Did
- Monitoring pﾄ「a populations and the ecological recovery of surrounding reefs that were greatly affected by the 2016 Kaikﾅ講ra earthquake. The emphasis was on juvenile pﾄ「a, which recruit from the plankton into very specific habitats at the low tide mark, live there under rocks for around 3 years, and then emerge to open reefs.
- Experiments along the coast to gauge growth and recovery. Here we used small constructed reefs, which proved to be attractive to small juvenile pﾄ「a.
- Experiments to determine the growth and survival of outplanted hatchery seed pﾄ「a, to gauge their viability in aiding population recovery.
- Experimental research and development of pﾄ「a spawning and larval production in the Kaikﾅ講ra community-supported pﾄ「a hatchery with local community members and school kids.
- Community engagement, involvement of school kids in outplanting and recovery of hatchery seed pﾄ「a.
- Work with members of the rﾅｫnanga in raising pﾄ「a larvae for further research into pﾄ「a population enhancement.
- Public talks, industry meetings, research update newsletters, scientific conferences.
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Who Was Involved
- PhD student Shawn Gerrity and members of the Marine Ecology Research Group
- Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI), which includes Fisheries Management (7 years of funding)
- MBIE - coastal ecosystem recovery (4 years)
- Seafood Innovations Ltd (in conjunction with the Pﾄ「a fishing Industry) - 3 years for seeding research
- Te Rﾅｫnanga o Kaikﾅ講ra - subcontractor on MBIE programme, for hatchery and other related pﾄ「a projects.
- Local schools 窶 outreach and help in outplanting and recovery
- Te Korowai o te tai ﾅ Marokura 窶 interactions for re-opening the recreational fishery
- Marlborough District Council, Environment Canterbury 窶 interactions on coastal recovery
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Why It Matters
Pﾄ「a are a taonga species of great cultural, recreational and commercial importance. The closure of the fishery took millions of dollars out of the local community and our work contributes to plans for re-opening the fishery. As well, this work has captured the interest of the public and the media.
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Learn More
- 窶漏ECOVER窶 Newsletterﾌ
- Reports for Marlborough areaﾌ
- Research Gate summaryﾌ
- Facebookﾌ
- Website under development:ﾌﾌ ﾌ
