Welcoming our other all-blacks

2pm 20 November 2015

Welcoming our other all-blacks

Today Ngāti Rehua-Ngātiwai ki Aotea welcomed and blessed the tāiko, New Zealand’s all-black seabird, back home to breed on Great Barrier Island/Aotea. Representatives from the fishing industry, government, environmental organisations, and the local community attended the blessing.

Tāiko/black petrels have flown 10,000 kms to return to their colony on the island to breed, after a winter fishing off South America.

Ngāti Rehua-Ngātiwai ki Aotea welcomed everyone onto their sacred mountain Hirakimata and led the blessing beside a tāiko burrow. After the ceremony, local school children from Te Kura o Okiwi sang a waiata for the birds.

“All seabirds are precious taonga to Ngāti Rehua-Ngātiwai ki Aotea people and even more so the tāiko who breed exclusively on our sacred maunga Hirakimata and Hauturu-a-toi. We want to ensure that the last remaining colonies of tāiko are protected to ensure they remain part of our natural heritage and legacy for all future generations of New Zealanders” says Nicola MacDonald Chairperson of the Ngāti Rehua – Ngātiwai ki Aotea Trust Board.

In celebrating their return to breed on Great Barrier and Little Barrier Islands, this seabird is getting some extra help from a group who are working to make the Gulf a safer place for them.

“The Black Petrel/tāiko Working Group includes fishing, government and environmental interests and is working on practical ways to reduce the risk to these special birds from fishing,” says Janice Molloy, convenor of the Southern Seabird Solutions Trust who facilitates the Group.

The Group’s members include the three largest fishing companies in the Gulf, all who attended today’s blessing and are commited to looking after these birds.

“We are ensuring all of our skippers have been trained in seabird smart fishing, and have a seabird risk management plan on board,” says Allyn Glaysher of Aotearoa Fisheries.

“Leigh Fisheries and Sanford are doing the same. We hope through our collective effort, the birds will be safer when they are out in the Gulf catching fish for their chicks.”

Tāiko once bred in colonies across much of New Zealand. Introduced predators such as stoats have eliminated all of the mainland colonies and today, commercial and recreational fishing is the main risk to the species.

Ms Molloy said that the breeding pairs of tāiko had declined steadily with only an estimated 2700 breeding pairs remaining.

Mrs MacDonald stressed that “Tāiko cannot survive without multiple interventions starting from policies at central to local government, collaborations between agencies and stakeholders, and support from everyday Mums, Dads and families. Together we can turn back the tide and save our precious taonga – He kaitiaki koe - You are a guardian - He kaitiaki au - I am a guardian”

This summer, recreational organisations, fishing clubs and charter companies are spreading the word on how to fish safely around seabirds and fisheries officers are handing out information and providing other practical advice.

ENDS

For Editors

Other resources:

Open this link to find out more about how recreational anglers can fish safely around seabirds

http://southernseabirds.org/resources/mitigation-tools-practices/recreational-fishing/

Open this link to see a film about black petrel and fishing in the Hauraki Gulf

http://southernseabirds.org/resources/sharing-the-hauraki-gulf-fishers-and-black-petrel-dvd/

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