April 11, 2023
Promising signs from īnanga survey
A team from from Rongowhakaata Iwi Trust is working with Gisborne District Council to monitor for signs of any spawning inanga, one of the five native whitebait species.
Council environmental scientist and īnanga habitat restoration project manager Isabella Clere says after spring high tides in March Te Ngāhuru Tikoitikoiere team found an abundance of eggs at one of the monitoring sites, indicating an improvement on last year’s breeding season.
She says īnanga use the same spawning sites in rivers and streams each year, so by identifying and protecting these places, iwi and council can increase the number of eggs, juveniles and eventually adult fish.
Adults usually spawn in late summer or autumn, and eggs are generally found in areas of long grass along the stream banks where the saltwater meets the freshwater, an area known as the ‘saltwater wedge’.