North Canterbury News: January 27, 2022
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NEWS<br />
4 The <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong>, <strong>January</strong> <strong>27</strong>, <strong>2022</strong><br />
Rescue time ... The group at work capturing the trapped tuna/eels for relocation.<br />
Slipperyrescue fromabasin<br />
By ROBYN BRISTOW<br />
Wrestling eels and chasing whitebait is<br />
all in adays work for Makarini Rupene.<br />
Environment <strong>Canterbury</strong>’s northern<br />
Pou Matai Ko (cultural land<br />
management advisor), led the recent<br />
relocation of about 20 tuna/eels, and<br />
some whitebait trapped in aKaiapoi<br />
subdivision retention basin after heavy<br />
rain.<br />
The rescue of the longfin and shortfin<br />
eels, some of which are believed to up to<br />
40 yearsold, came after some were<br />
found dead in the basin at anew housing<br />
development, after creeks overflowed<br />
and spilled in to it during the heavy rain.<br />
Mr Rupene says the remainder would<br />
have also died as the retention pond<br />
dried up, requiring him and ECan<br />
volunteers to intervene.<br />
The group used large, specialised nets<br />
to sweep the basin, capturing any<br />
stranded ka ika (fish). They were<br />
transferred to buckets, carried to the<br />
edge of the Kaiapoi River, and set free.<br />
It was slippery work at times, with<br />
some of the eels jumping out of the net<br />
or bucket, requiring abit of wrestling to<br />
get them back in.<br />
Four of the six whitebait species in<br />
Aotearoa New Zealand are classified as<br />
either threatened or at risk. The longfin<br />
eel is also at risk.<br />
Mr Rupene says moving them back to<br />
their proper habitat was anobrainer, as<br />
they would not have stood achance if the<br />
had been left in the retention basin.<br />
‘‘It was important for us to step in and<br />
relocate them. It was because of human<br />
activity that they ended up there, so we<br />
have aresponsibility to help them out,’’<br />
he says.<br />
‘‘Saving these taonga means we<br />
continue to support and protect them,<br />
sustaining mahinga kai and biodiversity<br />
values into the future for our children,<br />
and their children too.’’<br />
PHOTO: SUPPLIED<br />
Mr Rupene says land development<br />
and land use change of old swamps,<br />
streams or wetlands, can be problematic<br />
for aquatic life.<br />
‘‘The waterways can end up being<br />
diverted or pushed back under<br />
springhead streams, disrupting the flow<br />
and connectivity of the species, ‘‘ Mr<br />
Rupene says..<br />
‘‘It’s crucial that developers<br />
understand what's underground, which<br />
springs are about and which waterways<br />
have been there.<br />
‘‘That can include putting up fish<br />
screens or changing the way the land is<br />
developed, perhaps including<br />
constructed wetlands.’’<br />
He warns that until preventive action<br />
is taken at sites such as in Kaiapoi, the<br />
problem may keep happening.<br />
Developers can get information or<br />
advice by contacting the region’s Pou<br />
Matai Ko (cultural land management<br />
advisor). Call 0800324636.<br />
Ashley<br />
celebrant<br />
published<br />
author<br />
By SHELLEY TOPP<br />
Ashley wedding and civil union<br />
celebrant Jeneane Hobby is now also<br />
apublished author.<br />
She had her first book, The Field of<br />
Turrets,published by Mardibooks in<br />
London late last year and it is<br />
available as an ebook at www.<br />
amazon.com/FieldTurretsshort.<br />
Jeneane says she was approached<br />
by the publishing company to write<br />
12 love stories for the book.<br />
‘‘The stories are literary fiction<br />
not Mills and Boontype fiction,’’ she<br />
says.<br />
The book, which has acover<br />
design by Christchurch<br />
photographer and graphic designer,<br />
Maurice Lye is written with a<br />
seasonal focus.<br />
‘‘The weather and seasonal<br />
changes are the common thread for<br />
each story,’’ Jeneane says.<br />
The first story is set in February<br />
and there is astory for every month<br />
of the year.’’<br />
The publishers contacted Jeneane<br />
after she took part in awriting<br />
retreat with English writer Claire<br />
Steele in 2018.<br />
‘‘I contributed ashort story to her<br />
Magical Journeys collection Morocco,<br />
published by Mardibooks in 2019,’’<br />
Jeneane says. ‘‘On the strength of<br />
this effort Iwas invited to produce a<br />
complete collection of my own.’’<br />
Back to School Safety<br />
It’s back to school time! Help keep each other<br />
safe byfollowing some simple tips:<br />
• Children and young people<br />
get distracted and may<br />
forget to look for traffic –<br />
be alert<br />
• Stop if aschool patrol sign<br />
is extended –nomatter<br />
which side it’s on<br />
• Children often don’t<br />
accurately judge the speed<br />
and distance of cars –<br />
slow down<br />
• Either way it’s 20k –this is the legal speed when passing a<br />
stationery school bus in any direction<br />
• Avoid chaos at the school gate by parking further away<br />
• Help your children learn tobesafe bybeing asafe road user yourself.<br />
Thank youfor slowing down to keep our tamariki safe.<br />
Find out more -waimakariri.govt.nz
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