Northland students present petition at parliament to save Hikurangi's mudfish

Hikurangi School students present their mudfish petition to MP Willow-Jean Prime. Photos / Facebook

Pupils from an all-girls classroom from Hikurangi Primary School have flown all the way to Wellington in a mission to save a native freshwater fish dwelling in their own backyard.

Teacher Helen Moore's class of Year 7 and 8s presented their petition to protect Hikurangi's black mudfish, which lives in their local wetland, to Northland-based Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime on Tuesday.

"Today [Hikurangi Primary School] delivered their petition to protect endangered mudfish unique to the Hikurangi swamp area to Parliament," Prime posted on social media.

"Very proud of all the work the students, teachers and whanau have done," Prime said.

Hikurangi Primary School students visit Speaker of the House, Trevor Mallard. Photo / Facebook

The class of 14 also had the chance Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage, chairperson of the Environment Select Committee Duncan Webb and member of the Committee Liz Craig, who all showed invested interest in the mudfish.

Moore said it was a cool experience for the girls who were able to answer all questions Sage and Prime had about the endangered freshwater fish.

"Mr Speaker Trevor Mallard also invited us to his office where he told us about this work and the girls tried on his wigs," Moore said.

The class was back to parliament on Wednesday where they were booked in to hear their petition being read out.

Moore said unfortunately they weren't able to listen from the public gallery but watched it live on TV.

A Canterbury mudfish. The species is similar to the Hikurangi mudfish. Photo / DoC

"The petition has been passed on to a select committee. Apparently, they will schedule a Skype call with us in the coming weeks."

The girls had launched their online petition after learning that the habitat of the black mudfish was continuously shrinking, hence endangering their native taonga.

After a year's worth of research and a field trip into the swamp, the students were determined the save the 16cm-small, nocturnal freshwater fish with the unique ability to live and breathe in mud.

To learn more about the students' mission or sign the petition, visit chng.it/MT57xnfv.