Horizons’ fish passage project well underway
In the five months since receiving Jobs for Nature funding, Horizons Regional Council has employed a team of eight people who will open up 1250 kilometres of habitat for migratory fish.
The Enhancing Native Fish Populations through Fish Passage Remediation project was awarded $2.6 million through the government’s Jobs for Nature programme in July 2020.
The Council has since committed a further $300,000 towards the $3.2 million project that will build on an existing programme and will include removing large barriers to fish movement.
Horizons freshwater and partnerships manager Logan Brown says government and council’s combined investment will allow for the removal of at least 25 barriers and open up 1,250 kilometres of habitat.
“This will increase native fish numbers and distribution, improve aquatic habitat, and increase ka¯kahi (freshwater mussel) populations,”
“The project is also expected to create 26 jobs over its lifetime,” said Brown.
“Ensuring fish can get up and down streams and rivers as part of their natural lifecycle contributes to Te Mana o Te Wai, the life-supporting capacity of water,” said Martin Workman, Acting Deputy Secretary for Sustainable Land Use at Ministry for the Environment.
“Giving effect to Te Mana o Te Wai is central to the new National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management introduced this year. This means giving first priority to protecting the life-supporting capacity of the water. The second obligation is to provide for human health needs, and only then can water be used for other
purposes,” Martin explains.
In early November, Horizons successfully employed eight tertiary educated people who, following an induction that included swift water and electric fishing training, and have gotten straight to work.
“This work is important as many of the region’s waterways have lower native fish diversity and numbers than predicted. We know one of the key factors impacting the distribution and population of native fish is barriers to their migration,”
“Indigenous fish such as tuna (eels) and ¯ınanga (whitebait) need to be able to move up and down freshwater habitats to access feeding and spawning environments and maintain healthy populations. Structures such as culverts, dams, weirs, fords and tide gates can delay or prevent fish movement and stop them from accessing these critical habitats,” said Mr Brown.
This project aims to restore native fish populations in the region by providing a greater understanding of their population and distribution and identifying barriers to their migration and removing those barriers.
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