Marine ecologist Phil Ross with a toheroa at Ripiro Beach as part of his team's research on beaches across Northland.
Photo / Supplied
Marine ecologist Phil Ross with a toheroa at Ripiro Beach as part of his team's research on beaches across Northland.
Photo / Supplied
Ripiro Beach along Northland's west coast has the healthiest toheroa stock in the North Island, a group of university researchers has discovered.
Led by University of Waikato researcher in marine ecology Phil Ross, his team is capturing and counting both adult and juvenile toheroa on Ripiro Beach as part ofsimilar work they've been doing around New Zealand in the past 10 years.
The team has worked on Ninety Mile Beach and Mitimiti Beach, north of Hokianga, where the population of toheroa is less than Ripiro due to a number of factors.
"Disease, climate change, the availability of food, the way vehicles are driven on beaches, the way land next to beaches are being used, and poaching are the reasons toheroa numbers have gone down over the years," Ross said.
The collection of toheroa is banned throughout New Zealand. The only exception to the ban on taking toheroa is for people with a customary fishing permit.
Taking toheroa carries a maximum fine of $20,000 and offering to sell them could incur fines of up to $250,000.
Ross said the toheroa population at Ripiro Beach was higher than at other beaches because of the healthy flow of streams into the sea
"At Ninety Mile Beach, there's a lot of groundwater that feeds into the sea gets sucked up by the pine forest and agriculture. At Ripiro, streams at the southern end are disappointing but they have endured at the northern end."
University of Waikato researchers, led by Phil Ross, are examining the toheroa seabed on Ripiro Beach.
Photo / Supplied
He said the toheroa population, despite its protection over the past four decades, hasn't recovered to the levels Kiwis used to enjoy 100 years ago.
"Over the last 10 years, as time and funding allowed us, we have worked through different possible causes of their population and to better understand what makes good toheroa bed in one place compared to another.
"At Mitimiti, we are working with the local community around helping them manage toheroa beds. We expect toheroa population to go up and down. Their beds in places like Horowhenua and Muriwai beaches have been disappointing.
"Looking at baby toheroa is the next process in our research. At Ripiro, there are hundreds and millions of them which is heartening and that tells us there's capacity and if their habitat is right on the beach, they can grow into adults."
It takes about one year for toheroa to reach adult size.
Ross said there was often discussion about vehicles on beaches but people must understand how they impacted the toheroa beds.
"Eighty to 90 per cent of baby toheroa are found on the top 2cm of beaches which means when drivers do doughnuts, they end up digging up the entire toheroa beds. Driving is not an issue, driver behaviour is.
"Driving in a straight line and not at excessive speeds are okay but doing doughnuts and other forms of erratic driving behaviour are not," he said.
