Whitebait Restoration, Puketirini Stream
A multi-year project to help restore and protect whitebait populations in the lower Waikato River is nearing completion. Funded by the Waikato River Authority and undertaken by Waikato-Tainui and NIWA, the project involves research and physical works around spawning, habitat and fish passage. The five whitebait species are:
- Inanga
- Giant Kōkopu
- Banded kōkopu
- Shortjaw kōkopu
- Kōaro
In many cases, barriers such as culverts, floodgates and other instream structures prevent fish from reaching upstream habitats. One of the 5 whitebait species, Inanga, spawn in areas that are flooded by spring high tides. The installation of flood protection and land drainage has reduced this habitat to 7.5% of what it once was in the lower Waikato River. So far, the project has:
- Created a selective fish barrier on Puketirini Stream to prevent pest fish species passage, but allowing the passage of whitebait and tuna into upstream areas.
- Constructed a fish ladder at Bankwood Stream to allow fish to swim past the Wymer Terrace Culvert
- Constructed a fish ladder to improve the passage of whitebait species past the Waterford Road culvert
- Designed and created a new off-channel inanga spawning habitat in the lower Waikato River
- Repaired fish passes at Gibbons Creek
- Design a fish passage solution for the NZTA culvert on Mangaonua Stream
- Carried out riparian planting and installation of instream woody debris to create fish habitat in a stream at Hopuhopu
- Trialling a fish-friendly floodgate design at AkaAka
NIWA scientist Dr Cindy Baker says the most recent focus is the movement of juvenile kokopu in the Puketirini Stream near Huntly.
