Papakura has lost a national sailboarding competition due to an oyster infestation, writes Maurice Smyth. Huge humps of Pacific oysters in Papakura's Pahurehure Inlet, fed by the runoff-rich Papakura Stream, have officially become a hazard and a hindrance. They have led to the inlet losing the National Sailboarding Championships with littlechance of consideration until the bivalves are shucked out of harm's way ... and that's now on the cards. Working together, the Papakura District Council, the Auckland Regional Council, the Ministry of Fisheries and the Conifer Grove Residents' Association are determined to munch the mounds and crunch the shells, assisting the inlet to become to southern Auckland what the Waitemata is to the city. The big clean-up, in which oysters vie with mangroves as the villain, is known as the Pahurehure Coastal Compartment Management Plan. ``The oysters are likely to have been introduced by foreign fishing boats berthing at Onehunga and they have become a major problem,'' says the association's chairman Jan van Wijk. The mounds, visible at low tide and surrounded by treacherous mud, are a danger to hobby ``shipping''. Under discussion are the methods of removal, which could include expensive grinding machinery barged out to the problem areas. Shellfish gatherers are not encouraged because the shells are sharp and safe eating cannot be guaranteed. Papakura and Franklin representative on the Auckland Regional Council, Dianne Glenn, is undaunted by such a major exercise. ``People who become involved will be proud of the legacy they leave,'' she says. Mrs Glenn received a festive floral tribute from the association in appreciation of her lead role in the project.
