Panguru pupils help clear out pest pyura

Twelve-year-olds Chloe McCloy (left) and Susan Pomare searching a rock pool for the invasive pest pyura.

The green-lipped mussels that grow on the rocks near Mitimiti might not be the biggest you'll ever see, but they are said to be the sweetest in all of Aotearoa.

However, Mitimiti's famous kutai are under threat from an invasive pest, Pyura doppelgangera, an Australian sea squirt that has engulfed many west coast mussel beds.

Fortunately for the shellfish, and those who like eating them, Mitimiti's kutai have some dedicated allies in the form of the students of Te Kura Taumata o Panguru, who have been taking part in a moana restoration programme run by environmental organisation Papa Taiao Earthcare.

During a visit to Mitimiti earlier this year the students noticed the kutai beds were being smothered by pyura. After talking with community leaders, they came up with the idea of running a competition called Save the Kutai, Kill the Pyura.

On August 20 more than 60 people descended on the beach, making the most of a brief window of glorious weather, and removed a staggering 458kg of pyura from the mussel beds.

Prizes worth just under $1000 were handed out thanks to support from Matihetihe Marae, the Far North District Council, Papa Taiao and local families. Whanau competed to collect the greatest weight in pyura, while children collected prizes for the biggest specimens (the winner measured 70mm across). One student, Mary Baxter, single-handedly gathered a hefty 78kg.

Aaron McCloy, moana restoration programme facilitator, said problem-solving and taking responsibility were at the heart of all Papa Taiao courses.

"The great thing about this project is that the students and the local community have identified an issue, banded together, then taken action to solve it."

Te Kura Taumata o Panguru tumuaki Mina Pomare-Peita said in the past pyura was known as titikura, and was eaten by locals.

"As the years have gone past and people have left the community, the pyura has become a pest because fewer people are eating it," she said.

"I was shown how to cook it, and it tastes good, but it's out-competing our kutai. Like our tupuna, when something threatens our food source we have to fight to protect it. This is modern kaitiakitanga."

Allen Karena, the competition's student leader, had no words to describe his gratitude to those who took part.

"Kutai is a taonga. We all love kai moana, and we don't want to lose it," he said.
Mr McCloy said a rise in sea temperatures of 0.2 degrees could also be a factor the spread of pyura.