Ki te Whakataetae Waka Ama aa-motu e hia manomano o ngaa punua tuna e tukuna ana e te Roopuu Mahi Tuna o Waikato, ki te whakaora i te takere o te moana o Karaapiro i ngaa momo kiirearea peeraa i te tuangi kooura, aa, ki te whakaora hoki i te tuna.
Ko te Roopuu Mahi Tuna o Waikato, te kotahitanga o ngaa iwi o Raukawa, Maniapoto, Hauraki me Waikato ki te whakautu i te paanga kino o ngaa aukati nui ki te awa o Waikato whaanui me ngaa raru ki te hekenga o ngaa tuna.
“E tika ana maa maatou teenei kaupapa e kawe, ki te manaaki, ki te tiaki i te taonga o te tuna, ki te whakaatu ki aa taatou tamariki mokopuna, he aha eenei momo mahi kia waaia raatou ki eenei tuumomo aahuatanga,” hei taa Taane Te Aho o Ngaati Korokii Kahukura.
“Ko te mahi tuatahi maa raatou, ko te rangahau. Rangahau i ngaa aahuatanga o te tuangi ki roto i too raatou ake wai. Naa te mea, he rerekee te wai o Waikato ki ngaa wai o Te Waipounamu, o Te Tairaawhiti. Noo reira, me rangahau i ngaa aahuatanga o te wai, me rangahau i ngaa aahuatanga o te tuangi,” hei tāna anō.
Protecting the Karaapiro’s eco-system and the future populations of eels
More than 76,000 elvers were released into the water as part of an environmental protection initiative to combat the invasive gold clam.
“So the end game is for the tuna to be flourishing,” says Erina Watene of the Waikato Iwi Tuna Collective.
“The other ways in measuring success is the connection of whaanau back to the tuna, back to the wai. So doing the release today at waka ama gives whaanau a chance to have a think about when they’re on top of the awa what species are within our wai,” Watene says.
“I guess one thing they could look at is how our maatauranga can be used in terms of sanitising the boats and all that rather than in a westernised practice.”