Iwi eeling water hole destroyed
A popular eeling spot for a manawatu iwi has been desecrated after flood protection work commenced without its approval.
Ngati Kauwhata chairman Dennis Emery says he was not consulted by officials at Horizons Regional Council before the channel of the makino Stream, near Feilding, was altered in late March.
The council was undertaking flood protection work as part of its Lower Manawatu¯ Scheme project, a response to major flooding in February 2004.
The work was completed days before the coronavirus alert level 4 lockdown. Emery said iwi members returned to find dead eels at the spotwhere they had fished since 1820.
Emery took a group of regional leaders and senior Manawatu¯ police officials to the site on Wednesday.
He has laid a complaint with Horizons and discussed the incident with Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage and Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash.
Horizons staff met with Emery and apologised for the mistake, explaining they were unaware of the site’s cultural significance.
Its spokesman Ramon Strong said the work was necessary because gravel would build up in that area and flood the nearby Awahuri Forest-kitchener Park.
Horizons was not aware of the iwi eeling hole until Emery bought it to Strong’s attention. ‘‘I’m personally a bit upset, gutted. We are certainly disgusted that there were eel deaths with that work,’’ Strong said.
‘‘We will go back and look at how we do that type of work in the future.’’
Among the dead eels was an ‘‘old timer’’, which had been raised as a breeding eel. Emery said: ‘‘We caught him three times and he’s 70 centimetres long. I’m not sure whether they crushed him, but he’s not there.
‘‘We went there the week before lockdown and put nets out and caught six eels. We cooked them up and took to wha¯nau.
‘‘When we returned, they had widened the stream to straighten it out and took the trees out.’’
The incident comes on the heels of iwi occupying land after horizons began constructing theo as top bank near roua River without iwi approval.
Emery said iwi members were still hurting. ‘‘Ngati Kauwhata people and I are still rankled by this incident, and annoyed that we weren’t informed of the entire desecration and damage to the banks of the Mangakino stream.’’
Horizons was forced to accelerate its river protection work prior to lockdown because it had to be completed before the start of spawning season in May.
‘‘That time of the year is particularly challenging for us because we are prepping streams for winter,’’ Strong said.
Awahuri Forest-kitchener Park chairwoman Jill Darragh was aware a complaint had been laid, but said it wasn’t unusual for river work to be completed in that area. ‘‘Horizons clear the metal banks that build up in the Makino stream every year, so there is nothing unusual about that.
‘‘It is unsightly for awhile, but completely legitimate and necessary.’’