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Whakakī Lake on the Wairoa Hawke’s Bay coast is an intermittently closed and open lake, a rare habitat type. A narrow sand dune strip acts as a natural dam between the 500ha lake and the ocean. This dam traps freshwater, keeping it separated from the ocean, and creates a wetland rich in flora and fauna that has sustained the people of Whakakī for centuries. However, historic whenua destruction to create pasture for agricultural activity caused a buildup of nutrient-rich sediments, which led to a rise in algal blooms and cyanobacteria.

During warm periods, the lake is abundant with the cyanobacterium Nodularia. Its toxin nodularin accumulates in tuna liver and flesh. Professor French explains that when people eat food contaminated with nodularin there is a risk of damage to internal organs, which can lead to cancer, especially in the liver. So there is a concern that the consumption of tuna that has been contaminated with cyanobacteria can cause illness in the local community. Therefore, tuna and other lake fish consumption may have caused harm to the locals and manuhiri.

As far back as stories go, tuna have migrated in and out of Whakakī Lake. They reside in the freshwater, then return to the Pacific to spawn. The tunarere (migration) from Whakakī is an annual event that the local community knows well and looks forward to every year. Whakakī people have a breadth of knowledge about tuna, their life cycle, migration and return of the young from hundreds of years of tuna observation and harvesting.

Whakakī tangata whenua are nationally recognized for the quality of tuna they serve at cultural events. The term ‘kirituna’ (skin of the eel) is used to refer to Whakakī tangata whenua because of this association with tuna. Kirituna refers to the people’s resilience and ability to survive any challenges. Tuna is a dietary staple for many in the community. Cyanobacteria presence in tuna has seriously affected both the consumption rate and the ability to provide it as a food for manuhiri, which is a significant manaakitanga issue for locals who pride themselves on being able to serve this delicacy to manuhiri and has created a level of whakamā.

Angie Smith, WLT Treasurer, explains that Whakakī people value strongly manaakitanga, especially feeding manuhiri and keeping them safe. She recalls, “As soon as we realised that there may be toxins in the flesh, we just stopped serving tuna. So the next time we had a tangi, there was no tuna on the tables.”

Aquatic ecologist Dr Andy Hicks was an early supporter of WLT’s efforts to understand and solve the algal blooms. He supported Brooking’s successful 2017 Freshwater Improvement Fund application and says, “The stars had aligned with Richard as Chair and the funding opportunities that had arisen.” Hicks acknowledges that “a lot of people whakapapa to Whakakī,” and this funding was a necessary early step to enable whenua and wai healing for them.

To build a new understanding and appreciation of consuming Whakakī tuna safely, the partnership identified four strands of relationship and capability-building goals.

Dr Jonathan Puddick (Senior Scientist – Aquatic Molecular Ecology, Cawthron Institute) was keen to learn how the tuna toxin levels varied during different times of the year in different areas of the lake, how long the toxins were present and took to dissipate, and the relationship between toxin levels in the water and toxin levels in the tuna. He is also personally interested in “enabling people on the ground to make food safety decisions for themselves, having absolute authority (rangatiratanga) over their food.”

Puddick’s commitment aligns with Te Mana o Te Wai, the te ao Māori principle that water has the first right. When we protect our water and the water is healthy, the people are healthy. Iwi agency is important to food safety decision-making about mahinga kai. “Doing this mahi with Whakakī,” he elaborates, “is an opportunity to gather data, make changes and then inform decision-making nationally.”

Mātauranga Māori informed the data-gathering approach. A kaimahi suggested tuna predominantly in the many lake tributaries might not be accumulating the toxins or doing so at lower levels, so sampling and testing in various areas have become part of the programme.

The preparation of tuna is also key. Cath McLeod, Chief Science Officer at Cawthron, was crucial in gathering information regarding community consumption levels. Because the toxin accumulates in the tuna liver and guts, people are at higher risk when they cook and eat the tuna whole. Similarly, drying tuna would concentrate the toxins.

Now that WLT and their community have the lake back under their control, they have a better chance of dealing with the algal blooms and cyanotoxins. Brooking explains that sediment core sampling showed that algae were always present in the lake, but cyanobacteria and toxins weren’t present until about 50 years ago with the nitrate and phosphate introductions from agricultural development. Whakakī tīpuna started the restoration work more than 26 years ago. Now the lake is fenced off from agricultural animals and about 250,000 trees have been planted to provide a natural filtration system and reduce agricultural runoff into the lake.

Brooking reflects, “It’s an interesting tapestry made from the different threads of learning. We’ve just completed a history of the lake, the people, the land, legal structures and the whakapapa of our people.”

WLT has been renovating the old Whakakī School, which will serve as a taiao centre, a wānanga base, a business hub and a conference venue that will be open for private use. With its environmental work, WLT intends to also develop a modest research facility to coordinate the water and tuna monitoring activity. Cawthron Institute will conduct a survey to investigate the Wairoa community’s tuna consumption levels, which will contribute to the research facility. Smith is also interviewing the community elders to document how the tuna was traditionally caught, kept, prepared, and eaten. This information will be stored in the centre’s repository, thus further preserving this important mātauranga.

Educational unit standards have been developed to provide mātauranga/science curriculum for courses that will be run at the taiao centre. Alongside the WLT website and other publications, the proposed centre will also serve as an archive for lake information and resources. The Whakakī community’s knowledge will gradually increase with the ongoing use of the facility. The centre’s various activities will be connected to the lake and wetland restoration programme. Brooking says, “In the near future, we’d like to be able to publish something that goes out to everybody. We need to share the stories of our tīpuna, our whenua, our taiao and the challenges that we have overcome in addressing the revitalization of our lake and wetland.” WLT’s work to achieve this aspiration started many years ago with a Vision statement, Kia hoki mai te mauri o te wai – that the vital essence of our waters be restored.