Revive Our Gulf is proud to partner with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, working together to re-establish kūtai beds and improve the mauri of Ōkahumatamomoe.
Situated 10 minutes drive along the waterfront from Auckland’s city centre is Ōkahu Bay. Looking out across the Waitematā towards Rangitoto, there was once a carpet of kūtai / mussels forming extensive reefs in the Rangitoto channel. For Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, work to restore these reefs has been multigenerational, and follows a vision for Ōkahu laid down almost 15 years ago in the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei long-term ecological restoration plan:
“Waters fit to swim in at all times, with thriving marine eco-systems that provide sustainable kaimoana resources to a Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei community who have strong daily presence in and on the bay as users and kaitiaki”.
– Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei long-term ecological restoration plan (Kahui-McConnell 2012)
For Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, this project forms part of a long-term, intergenerational environmental restoration kaupapa / project. This includes re-planting of the whenua / land and improving the health of the Waitematā. For the hapū, this is rooted in a need to re-establish kaitiakitanga / guardianship and the physical and spiritual connection to the whenua / land and rohe moana / sea, after a sorry history of gradual land confiscation and desecration.
Only two generations ago, Ōkahu was the blue pantry or pātaka kai of the hapū, with plentiful shellfish and an ocean that was said to be ‘red with snapper’. By re-establishing kūtai beds in the Waitematā, it is hoped that one day the hapū can return to the traditional cultural practices of kohinga kai (food gathering) from their tribal waters. This has great cultural significance for mana whenua as providing kai (food) is an important aspect of manaakitanga (hospitality) and caring for manuhiri (guests).
The Ōkahu Bay project began with depositing over 1,200 cubic metres of shell inside the breakwater piles at Ōkahu Bay. This shell platform was laid in preparation for kūtai beds which were deployed a month later.
The kūtai were deposited across 6 different beds – three on shell and three on sediment – in a scaled-up experiment that aims to understand the impact that shell substrate has on survival and recruitment of new kūtai. This work will inform our future approaches to restoration at scale.
Over a three year period, these kūtai were monitored and have contributed to our understanding of the health of the Waitematā, as well as the impact of sediment on restoration projects and the benefits of shell in supporting the creation of marine habitats.
