Listen Now: 
July 15, 2022
Iwi back fish passage restoration in Tasman rivers
Adam Gifford
Posted On July 15, 2022
A $2 million, five year project to make rivers and streams in the Tasman region more hospitable to fish has been given the go-ahead.
Pūtea for the Tasman Fish Passage project will come from the Jobs for Nature initiative, the Ministry for the Environment’s Freshwater Improvement Fund and Tasman District Council.
Environment Minister David Parker says more than 4,000 in-stream structures will be assessed and around 1,500 culverts, weirs, dams, and water intakes will be modified for fish passage.
Increasing the abundance and diversity of fish will also help bird species that feed mainly on them.
The project is expected to create 17 new jobs.
Aaron Hemi from Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō says a priority for iwi that that rangatahi understand how fish migrate, and the project will improve local freshwater knowledge and foster kaitiakitanga through iwi-led education events and mātuaranga Māori monitoring.
RELATED NEWS
