Reclaiming the beach

A two-pronged attack has been launched on Tauranga's sea lettuce infestation, with the $60,000 joint campaign
between the city council and Environment Bay of Plenty removing 200 tonnes of the weed from Matua Peninsula in the past three weeks.
Tauranga City Council parks ranger Craig Fea said the drive to remove a build-up of sea lettuce was a joint venture between the council and Environment Bay of Plenty.
While campaigns had been waged against the plant by Tauranga City Council for the past 15 years, this was the first co-operative approach, Mr Fea said.
This summer the clean-up is being carried out by purpose-built equipment which is designed to remove sea lettuce and seaweed from coastal areas.
A machine imported by DMI Contracting from the United States offered a more environmentally-friendly approach to the work previously done using heavy equipment, such as diggers.
"It's a new approach to managing sea lettuce. The machine has been trialled and been proven to be the most efficient and cost-effective way of picking up sea lettuce," Mr Fea said.
The new equipment was specifically designed for grooming beaches, while minimising removal of sand.
"We'd like to think what we are doing significantly lowers environmental impact.
"Sand loss is an issue for residents - they don't like to see their beach [removed]."
The project is also making use of community service workers from the Department of Corrections to help place loose rocks back into the seawall and reach "difficult to get to" patches of sea lettuce.
Mr Fea said the project was in response to scientists' prediction that this summer will see large amounts of sea lettuce strewn on our beaches.
EBOP believes the blooms match the El Nino pattern, which brings nutrient-rich water into the estuaries.
The regional council says the increase of nutrients causes the sea lettuce to grow.
"Already, observations on the beaches show volumes seem to be heavier than in the last three or four years.
"It's going to be a struggle," Mr Fea said.
"It sounds like a big budget ... but if you went out there now and looked at the Matua Peninsula, you wouldn't think any has been removed.
"It is difficult to achieve a sea lettuce-free environment on the foreshore, but obviously it would be a lot worse without 200 tonnes removed".
Mr Fea said the next clean-up would be done just before Christmas ahead of the influx of beachgoers. He described the sea lettuce as "unpleasant and a nuisance" rather than dangerous.
"We need to make sure that the budget stretches to the time of most use."
The removed sea lettuce had been distributed to organic orchards across the Western Bay, at no cost to the orchards, for use as compost and mulch.
"It's good for the organic food industry, and the council saves significant dumping fees, and [is prevented from] dumping organic waste in landfills, which is a really bad thing. Organic waste is the worst thing you can throw into landfills," Mr Fea said.