Eels and whitebait thriving

Underwater video footage of a Taranaki stream by regional council staff shows thriving populations of long fin eels and whitebait.

Dozens of longfin eels, or tuna, and schools of juvenile whitebait, or inanga, were filmed in a key native ecosystem which flowed through private farm land, south west of New Plymouth.

The footage was captured by a Taranaki Regional Council environment officer monitoring biodiversity and biosecurity work by the landowner.

The stream is one of 193 key native ecosystems, or KNE’s, on private land in Taranaki where council staff work with landowners to manage native habitats and biodiversity, council operations director Stephen Hall said.

‘‘It’s awesome to see these waterways teeming with life,’’ Hall said.

Hall said Taranaki residents could take a bow as their hard work had achieved ‘‘some awesome results.’’

The regional council would continue to work with landowners to help manage predators, streamside planting and restoring native habitats, he said.

‘‘It all enriches life and that’s why we’ll continue working together.’’

The stream runs through a property owned by Bill and Christine Charteris, of Oakura.

The land is a former dairy farm and has been put into QEII trust covenant.

The couple were passionate about the biodiversity and water health on their land and are already looking at how they can do more, Hall said.

In October the council reported the best ever stream health trends in 21 years of monitoring.

The Healthy Waterways report showed after 20 years most measures of water quality were improving, or not changing significantly, for the ecological health, physical and chemical state of 99 per cent of Taranaki rivers and streams, council environment quality director Gary Bedford said.

Bedford said the results pointed to improved results of in-stream life, or insects living in the water, which are the primary indicator of water quality.

The changing water health trends showed work by farmers and landowners under the riparian management programme was making a difference, he said.

Streamside fencing and planting was having a positive impact in Taranaki, as was trapping and filtering pasture run-off, and keeping animals out of streams, Bedford said.

Taranaki was a leader in riparian fencing and planting with more than 14,500km of waterways covered by riparian management the most extensive in New Zealand, he said.

Up to 85 per cent of waterways are fenced, and 70 per cent are planted, he said.