North Shore Branch News March 2020 - Forest and Bird
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North Shore Branch News
March 2020
New Zealand whitebait are in peril. Four of the juvenile native fish that make up
whitebait are actually threatened species!
Our migratory freshwater fish have an amazing life cycle! Take for example, the
smallest whitebait, īnanga. Īnanga live in wetlands and when it's time to breed,
they migrate to estuaries where they wait for a high spring tide so they can lay
their eggs on grassy banks and in rushes.
Their eggs are marooned in the grass and leaf litter for weeks, awaiting the
next spring tide. When the water rises up, the eggs quickly hatch into tiny fish,
and they are flushed out to sea with the tide.
They will float around in the ocean, feeding among the plankton, and being fed
upon. Eventually, they gather into schools with the young of other native fish,
and swim up our rivers as whitebait, seeking out good habitat to grow into adult
fish. What a journey for a tiny baby fish!
Unfortunately īnaga, and other whitebait species, are at-risk and declining.
The Department of Conservation has really missed the mark with proposed
changes to the whitebait fishery. The proposals do not include a catch limit,
fishing licence, or better data collection on whitebait fishing. This is not good
enough for managing the fishing of threatened species.
Please sign and share our submission to stop unlimited fishing of endangered
fish.
To learn more about our whitebait, click here to watch a video by Forest &
Bird's marine advocate Annabeth Cohen.
Help shape your local board plan
Auckland Council's local boards are starting the process of building their three-
year plans. We all have an opportunity to submit ideas for the areas in which
we live.
As a member of Forest & Bird, it would be great if you could tell your local
board how much you value nature, clean streams, healthy forests, protected
native trees, and a healthy Hauraki Gulf. Local Boards should prioritise
spending on these areas.
Go online here to have your say before mid-April.
Highlights from our monthly speaker series
Last month ...
The Gulf of Mexico is an area of outstanding natural diversity that is under constant threat
from oil spills. Our February speaker, Dr Lynn Miller, gave us an insight into the long term
effects of the 2010 BP Deep Water Horizon oil spill on the North American northern gannet
population.
Lynn was one of a team of scientists researching the health of the gannet breeding colony
at Bonaventure Island in the Gulf of St Lawrence, from where the birds migrate to the Gulf
of Mexico to overwinter. They found that the breeding rate of the birds is in decline ... read
more.
We always have interesting speakers at our monthly meetings,
which are held at the same time and place every month on the
first Monday of the month, including public holidays. So come
along and be informed!
When: First Monday of the month at 7:30 pm
Where: Takapuna Senior Citizens’ Hall, The Strand —
through the courtyard at the rear of the Takapuna Library
The meeting is free and open to all including non-members,
although a small koha is appreciated to cover costs.
For more information email us here.
Monday 2 March 2020 7:30pm
Clinton Duffy
will be speaking on the challenges being faced by the marine life in the Hauraki
Gulf.
Clinton works for the Department of Conservation's Marine Species Team, based in the
Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland office. The focus of his work has been on marine protected
areas, coastal resource management and marine species conservation, particularly marine
fishes.
Clinton is the local shark expert, a member of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group (Australia
& Oceania) and a marine research associate of Auckland Museum.
What's on at Tuff Crater
Monthly working bee
We run a working bee at 9:00 am on the second Saturday of each month except January.
During the summer months the focus will be on pest plant control and track maintenance.
For information on the working bee scheduled for Saturday 14 March, please sign up to
our mailing list.
If in doubt on the day please contact Richard Hursthouse on 021 216 1296
To receive regular updates for Tuff Crater Saturday events please join our mailing list.
Weekly working bee Thursday 9:30am
Anne Denny and Paul Pyper run a half-day working bee every Thursday from 9:30am.
Meet new people and enjoy working in the great outdoors!
Sign up to the mailing list to learn more.
For more news and information about Tuff Crater:
Join our Pest Free Tuff Crater Facebook Page @PestFreeTuffCrater
Do you have time to volunteer for Forest & Bird?
Our upcoming AGM is an opportunity for us to ask for new volunteers to help
our cause.
The rapidly increasing urbanisation of our branch area means we have to do
more to protect our remaining natural spaces.
So, if you have a passion for the cause and some time to spare, please email
us, or speak to one of our committee members at our monthly meetings.
Working with nature is very rewarding and apparently good for the soul!
Other news: Thank you for collecting signatures for the Zero Bycatch Pledge! Forest & Bird's target was 10,000 signatures and thanks to all the branches who got behind this goal, we got 10,481, along with the support of 25 marine specialists, and 3000 submissions on commercial fishing rules. These have now been presented to Government. Check out this article in the NZ Herald. Beach Haven Coastal Walkway Thank you for having your say, and generating a much larger volume of submissions than they were expecting - 430 submissions in total! Statement from the Kaipatiki Local Board: The project team are currently analysing all the feedback that was received. Due to the high volume of feedback, it is taking longer than expected to review the information. The project team will be attending a workshop with the Kaipātiki Local Board on Wednesday 25 March at the Kaipātiki Local Board office. A formal report is expected to be prepared by May 2020. Further updates on this project will be available after this date. Other upcoming events Seaweek 29 February - 3 March World Wildlife Day 3 March Whio Awareness Month March
Ecofest North 21 March - 19 April
Buller's shearwater. Photo: Rod Hay
DOC's Conservation blog makes interesting reading. Click below to read an
example, and to sign up if you're interested.
Women and Girls in Science: Emerald islands and soaring seabirds
To contact us about anything you have read in this newsletter please email
northshore.branch@forestandbird.org.nz
or write to us at PO Box 33873, Takapuna 0740
Forest & Bird is New Zealand’s independent voice for nature. Our mission is:
'To defend New Zealand’s wildlife and wild places - on land and in our oceans’You can also read
