Taura kūtai deployment
May 1, 2026
Over three days across March and April 2026, Revive Our Gulf and University of Auckland Institute of Marine Sciences kaimahi joined Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki to harvest, prepare and weave four taura kūtai (mussel ropes), each approximately five meters in length, to test the practicalities and timelines required for harakeke preparation and weaving at scale.
To start the day, we heard some of the local history of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and the whakapapa connection to Te Nikau Pā, before learning how to harvest harakeke. Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki kairaranga, Tessa Harris, led our rōpu in karakia before sharing the tikanga and importance of harakeke: which fronds to harvest, the importance of cleaning and maintaining each bush, and the many uses of the entire plant which make it such a foundational native taonga.
The harvested harakeke then needed to be prepared, with each blade being brushed into smaller strands that could be woven into taura.
Whaea Tessa directed the design of the taura. Her design for this kaupapa has been somewhat modelled on mussel rope used in the Aquaculture industry. The loopy design of a plastic mussel rope used by the industry provides plenty of surface area for the kūtai to settle and grow. While the core of each of the woven taura was a four-strand plait in style, we also wanted to test two types of additions to the taura that would help provide more surface area on which the juvenile kūtai could settle: a looped and non-looped design.
This creative adaptability in the creation of the taura will help us understand what small changes can be made to give kūtai the best chance at settlement and growth and ensure that we move forward with a practical and functional restoration tool that has its foundations in mātauranga Māori.
By the end of our raranga wānanga, everyone had tried their hand at harvesting, preparing, and weaving the harakeke.
With the taura completed, we’ve learnt a lot about the time and care required to properly harvest, prepare and weave taura kūtai. We’ve also learnt how much harakeke is required to create a five metre long taura, ensuring we only take what is necessary to avoid overharvesting.
Our next step in this kaupapa is to place the taura across several locations in different conditions, to better understand how effective harakeke taura are in providing surfaces on which juvenile kūtai can attach and grow across different environmental and operational contexts.
